


Protect Me

by fruitpunchiies



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Danganronpa Another 2 - Fandom
Genre: Danganronpa Another, F/M, Fanganronpa, Reader-Insert, sdra2, super danganronpa another 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 70,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23217319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruitpunchiies/pseuds/fruitpunchiies
Summary: The simple existence of a girl being brought into a game of death, a girl who triggers a domino effect of changing fates. Uncovering the truths of lies and her dreams that hold onto reality. To fall in love or to let go, to heal or to break. Beneath a moon of hope and a sun of despair, she's come to shield them all.
Relationships: Makunouchi Hajime/Reader, Otonokoji Hibiki/Yomiuri Nikei
Comments: 56
Kudos: 67





	1. Prologue - Tropical Eclipse - 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains heckin Sdra2 spoilers, death, violence, and BAD WORDS :0
> 
> Some chapters will have dialogue from the actual game.
> 
> (Y/n) - Your name  
> (L/n) - Last name  
> (m/n) - Mother's name  
> (f/n) - Father's name  
> (e/c) - eye color  
> (s/c) - skin color  
> (h/c) - hair color  
> (h/l) - hair length  
> (f/c) - Favorite color  
> (f/d) - Favorite dessert  
> (f/s) - Favorite song
> 
> Sdra2 belongs to Linuj

I could feel the heat on my face. It was the first thing I felt when I woke up. My eyes fluttered open only to be met with a blinding light from above me.

“Ugh…” I covered my eyes while shakily moving my body until I was sitting on my knees. The ground was unpleasant on my bare legs, it was pokey and quite painful. I guess I was kneeling on gravel.

I moved my hands away from my eyes, blinking a bit until my vision began to clear since my amazing self had the smart idea to look straight into the sun.

Standing up, I dusted off my apron along with the back of my skirt. It also felt like there was a rock inside my shoe. I sighed in frustration as I could not seem to shake it out, so I pulled my shoe off and turned it upside down, watching as about seven tiny rocks fell to the ground. Putting that shoe back on again, I took off the other. Though it didn’t feel like there were any rocks in that shoe, I may feel one later.

Just then, there was the crunching sound of someone walking on the gravel behind me. “Excuse me, miss… what are you doing?” An unfamiliar male voice spoke. I looked up to see a boy with short orange hair. He wore a brown coat and red tie. There was also a girl with long white hair tied in a low ponytail, she was wearing what looked like a normal grey and white school uniform.

“Oh, y’know, just making a ten layer chocolate cake- what does it look like?!” I scolded the two as one rock fell out and I slipped my shoe back on. I guess the yelling was unnecessary, it’s just that i’m always kind of crabby when I wake up, plus nosy people annoy me… but maybe they won’t seem too bad if I talk to them more.

“U-uh, sorry miss! What’s your name? I’m Yuki Maeda, The Ultimate Lucky Student! And this is Sora, I’m guessing you’re a Hope’s Peak Academy freshman as well?” The orange haired boy introduced them both.

“I sure am! My name is (Y/n) (L/n), The Ultimate Dessert Chef!” I introduced myself with a smile. I decided not to question why he didn’t say Sora’s last name or talent, I didn’t really care that much anyway, if she wanted me to know, she would’ve told me herself. 

“Wait, you’re THE (Y/n) (L/n)?? I can’t believe one of the most famous dessert chefs in the world is standing right before me! Don’t you have six different recipe books??” Yuki was shocked.

“Seven actually, but who’s counting?” I laughed, I admit, I LOVE being praised, especially since I know i’m worthy of it, “I also have my own fancy restaurant and sweet shop in Italy! Five stories tall and complete with every delicious dessert you can imagine!”

“Ah! The (L/n) Candy Land! I’ve always wanted to go but it’s very expensive…” Yuki scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Well, obviously, only the finest desserts are sold at (L/n) Candy Land! Just a bite of my tiramisu should cost more than 50 bucks! But hey, you two seem pretty sweet, if you ever go to Italy, I’ll give you a mega discount!”

“Eh?! Really? Thank you!” Yuki said happily, while Sora said a simple ‘Thanks’. 

“No problem!” I smiled.

“(Y/n), if you don’t mind us asking, do you know where we are?” Sora changed the subject.

Now that she mentioned it _… where in the world are we?_

“No… sorry, I actually don’t even… remember… getting here in the first place…”

“Okay (Y/n), we will see you around.” Sora said as they both began to walk away.

“Wait! Before you go, is there a place I can get any candy? I could use a treat right now.” I asked, thinking about how I longed to have a bite of some cheesecake, or perhaps some dark chocolate and caramel truffles…

“Well, there is a small mart down the road, we went inside and I'm pretty sure I saw a candy section, some baking stuff too actually.” Yuki said.

“Sweet! I’ll see you two later!” I gave them an over exaggerated wave and skipped down the road like a child heading to a playground.

While walking down the road I could see multiple other places to go. There was a fancy looking house, a park, and even a bell tower. I could also hear the sound of crashing waves and smell the scent of saltwater in the air coming from past a line of tall palm trees. It seemed like I was on an island? Or at the least by a beach.

I started to think more about what Sora had said, I wonder how I got here in the first place? My last memory was heading to Hope’s Peak Academy. I’d like to ask someone… but after Sora and Yuki asked me, I doubt anyone else that may be here would have an answer either…

Shoving those thoughts into the back of my mind, as soon as I made it to the doors of the mart I slammed them open, both of them hitting the walls with a loud crash- which most likely would have scared the shit out of anyone else inside. I ran around a bit, checking through every aisle until I spotted the one farthest from the door, both sides covered in different brands of candy. “Yes!” I squealed, clapping my hands and jumping with excitement at the thought of finally getting to taste some sugar.

I immediately began shuffling candy around on the shelves, I tossed jelly bean bags and candy bars onto the ground as I looked for something that actually tastes decent for cheap candy.

That’s when I saw them…

_Milky way bars._

I was a sucker for the caramel and chocolate combination, so no doubt I would be picking these. Of course these candy bars weren’t anything fancy, but they were certainly tasty.

Noticing that no one seemed to be running the store, I didn’t hesitate to grab the last three large bags of mini bars, it was difficult just carrying two giant bags, but my motivation to eat them was enough to get me through it.

I was just about to look at some other candy when I heard a male voice say, 

“You do know those are bad for you, right?”

I slowly turned around to see a man wearing… barely any clothes actually? He literally just wore shorts, shoes, and an open jacket that was only on his shoulders… he was also extremely ripped, was he trying to show off his body or something? His blonde hair was tied back in a small ponytail and he also wore dark sunglasses.

Who the actual fuck just _decides_ to wear sunglasses inside of a building?

People who have hangovers, or people who are high, that’s who.

“So?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at his remark.

“...So? Don’t you want to take care of yourself? You shouldn’t eat that much candy, it isn’t healthy.” He said, crossing his arms.

I had to look up at the man, he was very tall compared to me, then again I'm not very tall.… so it’s not that much of a surprise.

“Why do you frickin care, you don’t run my frickin life, I don’t even know your frickin name?” I spat at him, clutching the candy bags closer, but as I did one ended up falling out of my arms.

“Do you say frick in every sentence?” He asked.

“Only when I'm frickin annoyed. And though I don’t like to swear out loud, talking with you is really making me want to!” I leaned down to pick up the bag, but as soon as I did, he grabbed it along with the other two in my arms with ease, putting them on the highest shelf in the aisle.

“H-hey! Give those back!” I said while jumping up, desperately trying my best to reach the bags that were now way out of my reach.

After one more try I huffed, turning around to face him, more pissed off than before, “Okay, who the frick do you even think you are? I bet your name is Mr. No Fun, huh? Since clearly you like taking away other people’s fun! Is that your talent? Are you the ultimate fun taker awayer!?” I glared at him, clenching my fists tightly.

“Did you really just say ‘taker awayer’?”

“Did you just act like a jerk Mr. No Fun?”

  
  
“First of all, my name is not Mr. No Fun, it’s Hajime, and second, you need to stop being rude.” He said.

“Yeah, uh huh, sure, whatever Mr. No Fun, now, if you’ll excuse me, I'm going to eat this candy because you can’t tell me what to do!” I angrily grabbed a bag of jelly beans that was laying on the floor and ran out of the store.

“What a jerk…” I grumbled as I decided to tear open the bag of crappy candy, sighing as a few fell out of the bag and onto the dirt.

I sat on a small bench next to the store and ate the jelly beans in silence until I finished the bag, by that point I saw Yuki and Sora headed my way. I stood up and waved at them as cheerfully as a dessert chef who just ate garbage could.

“Hey (Y/n), we’re gathering everyone to the beach, do you think you could head over there right now?” Yuki asked.

“Huh? How many people are here? I’ve only met three…” 

“Including us, there are sixteen.” Sora said.

“Well, I’ll see you two there I guess.”

And after that, I tossed my empty candy bag in a trashcan and made my way to the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi~! This is my first time writing fan fiction so I hope you enjoy!


	2. Prologue - Tropical Eclipse - 2

By the time I got to the beach, there were seven people, I actually recognized some of them to my surprise. 

Well, I didn't _actually_ know them, but I know they exist.

I saw a large man, his body was similar to Hajime’s, but this guy was even taller. His hair was bright red and he was dressed kind of like a firefighter? ...Like half firefighter and half not? I don't even know. He was a bit intimidating, but he looked like a nice person.

There were also identical twins, both had red and purple hair pulled back with music note hairpins. I actually recognized them as the vocalist and guitarist from Melody Rhythm, Hibiki and Kanade Otonokoji were their names.

There was a tall girl wearing a red and gold vest with matching pants. Her pale light blue hair was tied in… I don’t even know how to explain that hairstyle. She and Hibiki seemed to be engaged in conversation, the tall girl smiled as Hibiki laughed at what was most likely a joke she said. 

There was a tall man with grey hair standing away from the others, I honestly am not sure if he’s seventeen or seventy.

The last two were a girl with pink hair and a somewhat revealing blue dress, and a short boy with fluffy pastel pink and green hair. 

It wasn’t long before more people arrived. I saw a boy with black hair wearing a light brown jacket and matching hat, he was holding a miniature notepad that he was writing on as he walked. There was also a man dressed like… a wizard? A short brown haired girl holding a sketchbook, Emma Magorobi apparently, a girl with strange black hair who had her full attention on the iPad in her hands. And of course Sora, Yuki, and Hajime were part of that group as well.

“So… we’re all here.” Yuki spoke up, looking at us all.

“There were this many people huh?” Hajime said.

“I guess so…” I muttered, studying everyone around me.

Some people seemed excited to be with everyone, while others seemed annoyed.

...I think I fall into _both_ of those categories.

“Thank you everyone for gathering, There’s two reasons why you are all here,” Yuki began speaking, “The first is so we can get to know each other a little easier, and the other is-”

“You wanted to know why we’re on this island, right?” The girl with the black hair- screw it, i’m just calling her iPad girl for now.

“It’s exactly as you say.”

What the fuck, is iPad girl psychic?

“Yeah! We do need to talk about that. Glad some people have common sense around here.” The pink haired girl- or Miss Pinky said.

“Hm? Does that mean some of us don’t have common sense?” the notepad boy asked.

I’m so creative with nicknames huh.

“What’s the big deal? It’s all part of the opening ceremony, right?” The man with the red hair asked with a confused look on his face.

... _Opening ceremony_ …? I guess that’s possible… but it doesn’t seem right… Every single time there’s an opening ceremony- or any special event at Hope’s Peak Academy, they always request the (L/n) Candy Land to make and deliver special desserts to serve during the events.

... _It’s just strange that they wouldn’t ask this time._

“After we talked with you all, we still think something is off about all of this, none of us remember how we got here.”

After Yuki’s words, everyone seemed to be deep in thought.

“...How we got here…? Kanade, do you remember?”

“N-no… I don’t....”

“I’m more surprised that there are people like you who are just calm in a situation like this…” Miss Pinky pointed at the blue haired girl.

“Hey now… no need to take everything so seriously Miss Pinky” she responded.

No fucking way, is that _actually_ her name?

“...It’s Yoruko Kabuya.”

Nope. I’m just an idiot. 

Okay.

“Sure, sure. Is there anything to gain from acting like this? It’s all probably an event.”

“Well, I did hear this school has had some pretty crazy events. It is a huge school after all.” Hajime shrugged, but he didn’t sound 100% convinced.

“They say this school has had things like giant puppies and buildings blowing up…”

Wait what.

“If all of this is true, then this could be an event hosted by the school!” Emma exclaimed, “A beautiful island in the southern hemisphere… A once in a lifetime opening ceremony… We should engrave such a memory in our minds…”

Wow, cringy much?

“You really think so…? Even so, there are other issues..." Yoruko said.

“I told you. This is 100% a kidnapping.” The boy with the pastel hair said bluntly.

_A…_ **_kidnapping?_ **

“My kidnapping senses are tingling. As a veteran of being kidnapped, I’ve got a feeling that this must be a kidnapping on a grand scale!”

“What do you mean by ‘Veteran of being kidnapped’?” The red haired man asked, sounding very concerned.

Well… the kidnapper sure had some guts kidnapping ultimates…

“Hold it!” Hibiki said, “If we were kidnapped wouldn’t we be tied up? Or in sight of the kidnapper? I’ve never heard of a kidnapping where the culprit releases them on an island and does nothing!”

That is true…

“Not only that, but there’s also a huge boat on this island. It might be locked but that still means we’ve got some sort of transportation.”

“Well, I suppose things are a little different from a normal kidnapping…”

“I don’t think this situation is all that serious. I mean, there's no way someone could pull this off.” Hajime said.

“Oooh! Oooh! Yeah this is great! ‘Dangerous kidnapping or school event?’ This article is gonna be great!” the notepad boy exclaimed.

_???_

“Even if this is an event, isn’t it kind of weird that no one has approached us yet? It’s been two hours, shouldn’t something have happened by now?” Sora asked.

“Yeah, that is a bit weird. I guess they’re just having some trouble… that’s all…” The blue haired girl laughed awkwardly.

“So now what? What do we do?”

“We don’t have enough information to make a conclusion yet. Why don’t we stick together,” Yuki said,''It’ll be smarter and safer than moving alone.” 

“Yeah! Sounds great! Waiting and talking here won’t do us any good.” The red haired man yelled.

...I’m gonna call him ‘Loud dude’.

“Alright, so we stay together until something else happens.” the notepad boy said.

“Then why don’t we take this time together to introduce ourselves? There’s still people here I haven’t talked to yet!”

“Heh...hmph.”

?

Everyone’s gaze moved to the grey haired man who was leaning against a palm tree.

“Huh? What’s up with that arrogant look?” the loud dude glared at him.

“You called me here just to talk about this crap? You guys just wasted a precious minute of my life…”

“Hey man, that’s harsh. I think this talk was important since we didn’t fully understand the situation we are in.” Hajime said.

...Honestly I agree with that.

“Whatever, the only reason I came here was to see what kind of brats i’m stuck with on this island,” The man spoke, “It’d be a waste of my time to act friendly with all of you so i’ll be leaving now.”

He then walked away.

...

“What?! Do you know how rude it is to bad mouth someone and then walk away?!” Yoruko scoffed.

“...He’s already gone, what’s his problem?” notepad boy mumbled.

“Ewww!~ I have to go through my school life with an old hag looking guy like him?!” Hibiki yelled, causing me to laugh a little bit.

“Anyways, we should do as Iroha said and talk to each other while we’re together.” Emma said, referring to the artist girl.

Iroha, huh? She’s lucky I heard her name.

Chick was next on my stupid nickname list.

“Ah, if we’re all gonna hang out together, I have an idea,” The blue haired girl spoke up, “We’re at a beach… the weather’s nice… why don’t we all go for a swim?”

That’s a great idea!

“What…?” Yuki asked in confusion.

“That shopping mart had some swimsuits, and since there was no owner, I don’t see a problem with borrowing some…”

“B-but that’s not the point! We were supposed to talk together, not play together!” Yuki said.

Lame. Maybe Yuki should be called Mr. No Fun instead.

...

Nah, Hajime is worse.

Boy took away my Milky Way bars.

“He’s right! And if this is an event hosted by the school they’re gonna find out you stole those!” Yoruko said as if we were all idiots.

Well, I mean, I did think her name was _actually_ Miss Pinky for a second there.

So I don’t blame her.

“Let’s hurry up and swim! Right now!” The pastel boy said, a slight blush on his face. 

“AWWW YEAH! Swimming!! It’s been a long time since I went to the beach!” The loud dude… said loudly…

“Oooh! What a great idea!! Let’s hurry and go pick out our swimsuits!”

“If it’s swimming there’s no way i’m missing out!! Let’s go Kanade!” Hibiki grabbed her sister’s arm.

“H-huh…? Sis… I don’t really want to swim…” 

“Eh, screw it. What could go wrong? I’m joinin’ too.”

“Let’s go!” Notepad boy exclaimed, running ahead while everyone besides Sora, Yuki, Yoruko, Emma, Wizard guy, and iPad girl headed to the mart.

_ _ _ _ _

“Excuse me, but may I walk with you?”

I turned around to see the pastel hair boy running to catch up with me. I nodded my head and waited until he was next to me to walk.

“My name is Yuri Kagarin, The Ultimate Spaceman, and you are?”

“(Y/n) (L/n), The Ultimate Dessert Chef!” I said.

“Oooh! I’ve been to the (L/n) Candy Land, and I must say, your desserts are absolutely divine… much like you.” Yuri said, taking my hand and giving the back of it a kiss.

I felt my cheeks heat up from the unexpected action, “Ahaha… thanks.” I awkwardly laughed, pulling my hand away.

Soon we made it to the mart and headed straight towards the swimsuit section. I scanned the racks of swimwear, looking for one that I found cute.

“Hi there!”

I turned around and saw Iroha standing behind me.

“Hi” I said with a smile.

“My name is Iroha Nijiue! The Ultimate Painter! What’s your name?” She asked, setting down her sketchbook and looking at the same swimsuit rack as me.

“I’m (Y/n) (L/n), The Ultimate Dessert Chef!” I said.

“Oooh! I tried some of your strawberry shortcakes once at a wedding! They were so delicious! Best dessert I’ve ever tasted! I’ve always wanted to bake something like that…” Iroha said, grabbing a yellow one piece swimsuit and holding it over herself.

“Ah! We should bake together sometime! I have some new recipes in mind, and it would be nice to have a cool taste tester!” I said cheerfully.

“Eh?! Really? I’d love to!” She said, “Well, i’m going to put this on, I’ll see you at the beach (Y/n)!”

I waved to Iroha and then continued looking. Soon I came across a (f/c) bikini with a short ruffled trim along the waist band, though my main reason for choosing it was the golden candy pattern on the swimsuit.

I grabbed it and stepped into the women’s restroom to change. I could see Iroha exit a stall in her yellow one piece, while Hibiki leaned against the wall and the blue haired girl helped Kanade tie the back of her bikini top.

I entered a stall and stripped down, setting my uniform, shoes, apron, and undergarments aside, and slipped on the bottom and top. I struggled to tie the back of the bikini top, no wonder Kanade needed someone’s help. I tied it until it seemed stable enough. After grabbing my clothes I exited the stall and grabbed one of the towels set near the sink before heading to the bathroom exit.

Kinda weird that they have a stack of beach towels just sitting in a public restroom but whatever I guess.

As I walked I looked around for Iroha to see if she was still in the mart, not really paying much attention to my surroundings.

I turned to walk through the swimsuit aisle again when I bumped into someone and fell to the floor. And who did I run into? None other than Mr. No Fun.

“You should watch where you’re frickin going!” I growled as I began to stand up, rubbing my back which was sore from falling.

“I wasn’t even walking.” He said, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

“Oh whatever!” I huffed and turned to walk away.

“Hold on-” Hajime grabbed onto the back of my swimsuit to stop me, and, of course, I felt the poorly tied knot come undone. I froze in place. Even though the now untied top didn’t fall off or reveal anything, I covered my chest faster than I've ever done anything before. My face was so hot that it actually felt like someone just set it on fire.

“wHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” I spun around to face him, still covering up as best as I could.

“O-okay, that was an accident!” Hajime defended himself, but I could tell he was just as embarrassed as me.

I quickly turned away and desperately tried to tie it back up, but I kept fumbling and messing up each time.

“Here, I'll help.” Hajime took the two strings from my hands. I did nothing to protest, being far too flustered to properly function, he pulled the strings so the fabric was snug against my chest, then tied them together into a much better knot, “There you go.” He put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light pat, most likely an attempt to try and make things less awkward, though all it did was make my heart skip a beat.

_It was strange._

All of a sudden, a deep voice snapped me out of the weird trance.

“(Y/n) darling? Are you there?”

I quickly stepped away from Hajime as Yuri poked his head around the corner.

“H-hey Yuri! What’s up?” I stuttered, but instead of responding to my question, his eyes immediately moved to Hajime, “(Y/n), is this disgusting man bothering you?”

“What- Hey! That was really fuckin’ rude!” Hajime yelled at him.

“C’mon Yuri, let’s just go to the beach.” I grabbed Yuri’s wrist and pulled him towards the exit, not glancing back at Hajime even once.

_ _ _ _ _

We ran until we made it to the beach and crashed into the water. I could see the twins playing in a shallow area, watching starfish and crabs. And not too far away the blue haired girl and Iroha were splashing each other. 

Speaking of splashing- less then a moment later, notepad boy, loud dude, and Hajime all jumped into the water, drenching both Yuri and I in saltwater, “WHAT THE HECK YOU GUYS?!” I yelled, pushing my wet hair out of my eyes.

“S-sorry…” the loud dude said with a dark red blush, while the notepad boy just laughed at us,

You know, like an asshole.

“Look at all of the bikini babes!” Yuri said as he practically drooled over every female in the water.

I rolled my eyes and swam over to Iroha and blue hair girl, “Mind if I join?” I asked as they continued their little game of splashing each other.

“Is that okay with you Setsuka?” Iroha asked.

“Fine with me!” the blue haired girl- or Setsuka said as she splashed me right in the face.

“Hey! It’s now or never if you’re gonna join in on the fun!” notepad boy shouted at the students still in their clothes on the beach.

“...Aaahh!! Forget it! Guys!! I’m going in!” Yuki yelled as he ran towards the water.

And that was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.


	3. Prologue - Tropical Eclipse - 3

Once again, my eyes fluttered open, this time however, I didn’t feel gravel, I felt sand, and there was no blinding light, there was no sun up above.

Instead there was the moon.

As my sight began to focus I could also see Yoruko sitting next to me with a concerned look, Hajime and Iroha stood there as well, “Are you awake?” She asked.

“Y-yeah… What happened…?” I rubbed my eyes and stood up slowly, but before there was a response, Yuki’s yelling was able to fully wake me up.

“Wake up! Sora, wake up! Sora!!”

Everyone’s gaze was now fixed on Sora, who seemed to be the only person still unconscious.

“Huh? ...Y-Yuki?” Sora grumbled as she sat up, looking at fifteen other students staring at her.

“Get a hold of yourself!” Yuki grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

...She seems fine to me…

“Yuki, what happened?” Sora asked.

“I don’t know… I was just walking into the water to swim when I lost consciousness,” Yuki explained, “I think we all did. It’s already night.”

“Is everyone else alright?” the loud dude asked us.

“Y-yes… I think we’re alright.” Kanade answered.

“Huh? Wait, weren’t we all wearing swimsuits?” Yuri spoke up, “Nooo! I wasn’t done appreciating the bikini babes!”

I rolled my eyes at Yuri’s words, “Gross…”

“What even happened? Is there someone else besides us on this island? Did somebody do something to us?” Setsuka said, sounding concerned, “Like… maybe they used sleeping gas to-”

“...That’s not it… there is no sign of it… it was like… we all lost consciousness in an instant.” the iPad girl said, not even looking at us.

“W-what should we do? I’m starting to feel scared…” Iroha mumbled, hiding behind her sketchbook. I linked my arm with hers to comfort her, it seemed to work a bit.

“...This situation might be worse than we thought.” Hajime sighed.

“Yeah, no kidding.” I glared at him, receiving silence as a response.

“That’s what we were trying to say! You can’t just be relaxed in a situation like this!” Yoruko scolded. 

“Ugh...Yoruko, my dear. I’ve been agreeing with you from the start. So, don’t break my heart by yelling at me…” Yuri said dramatically.

“You were the one most interested in ignoring this and going swimming!” Yoruko yelled.

“G-guys, calm down for a second…” Yuki said, capturing everyone’s attention.

...

“...It’s coming.” The Wizard guy spoke up for the first time.

“...Mikado? Did you just…?” Sora said as everyone turned towards the Wizard guy, or Mikado I guess.

Suddenly there was the sound of a bell… it sounded kind of like a doorbell, but the volume was deafening, I instinctively covered my ears. But the volume of the bell was nothing compared to the voice screaming inside my mind that something was very wrong.

“I’m glad to see you all doing well… I’m sorry I'm late. This announcement is from the headquarters of the Hope’s Peak Academy field trip. The Hope’s Peak Academy opening ceremony will be starting now, so all students on the island please present yourself to Utsuroshima Park.” A deep voice spoke loudly from an unknown location, the faint sound of static in the voice made it seem like it must be coming from a nearby speaker.

Emma quietly spoke, just loud enough for the rest of us to hear, “That announcement…”

“W-where did it come from?” Kanade asked as she looked around the beach.

“Even more important: Didn’t they just say opening ceremony?” The loud dude said.

I could hear the relief in Hibiki’s voice as she sighed, “Ah!~ I see, so it really was all a school event!”

“Opening ceremony…? For real?” Yuki stared at the ground, very deep in thought. I’m sure the thoughts in his mind were the same as mine.

“Well… I guess we can put aside the question about how we fell unconscious for now…” Setsuka said. 

_I don’t know if that’s something we should totally put aside though…_

“Wait, everyone.” Sora said loud enough for everyone to listen, “I’ve got… a really bad feeling about this.”

“I get that you’re concerned, but what are we supposed to do? We can’t just sit here forever… And you can’t get more interesting info for your article if you just stay here… so i’m off!” The notepad boy said, quickly flipping to an empty page and walking past the palm trees.

“Let’s just think positive! Nothing bad will happen!” Iroha said, turning towards me. I gave her a small nod and we walked together along with the rest of the group to Utsuroshima park.

_ _ _ _ _

“This is the park, right…?” Yuki said as soon as the 15 of us had entered the park.

Just then we could all hear the sound of footsteps on the gravel coming from the other direction. “Hey, it’s that guy who couldn’t bother to stay with us…” The notepad boy said as the… old man looking teenager now stood before us.

“I’m not here for the opening ceremony… I’m just excited that something is starting.” He said with a smirk.

“Anyways, what’s goin’ on? We came here as we were told but nothin’ is happening.” Hajime said with a look of both confusion and annoyance on his face.

“HEEEYY!! We’ve got a lot to ask so come on out!” The loud dude shouted. He definitely shouts a lot.

“Damn you guys are noisy. I’ve been here all along.”

It was that voice again. But this time there was no static, just a deep voice. One speaking close by.

“W-wait, what? Where did that voice come from?” Yoruko frantically looked around, but none of us could really see much in the dark anyways.

“From the front. Are you blind or something? Use those eyes of yours.” The voice spoke again.

Suddenly… honestly one of the weirdest things i’ve ever seen happened. A half black and half white bird flew down and landed on the fountain just a few feet away. And then… it spoke, “Nice to finally meet you, my comrades. I’m the head teacher of this field trip, Monocrow. I hope we can get along.”

“...Eh…? Eeeeeek!!! A stuffed animal talked?!?!!” Yoruko said, absolutely creeped out.

“W-what is that thing?!” Yuki said.

“I-Is it a monster?! It’s a monster!” Iroha squealed as we both clung to one another tighter.

“Hehe, how rude to call your teacher a stuffed animal or a monster…” Monocrow muttered.

“A scoop! A really good scoop! The teacher was a sparrow!” Notepad boy, unsurprisingly, began taking notes.

“I’m not a sparrow! Just a confident raven!”

Monocrow sounds extremely annoyed.

I don't blame him to be honest.

Yuri put his finger in the air and spoke, “You look just like a sparrow though, or at least like a mackerel.”

I don’t think that was really necessary to mention but whatever Yuri.

“You’re kidding me right? That’s our teacher? That doesn't make any sense.” Setsuka’s happy and carefree personality was now overshadowed by confusion and worry.

The loud dude, once again, was loud, “C-calm down! It must be a puppet! The real teacher must be somewhere else.”

“Stop treating me like a puppet. I am Monocrow, a precious being.”

Ugh… he sounds like me.

“...Cute.” Kanade said with a giggle.

“What part of that THING is cute?! Disgusting! I can’t stand birds!” Hibiki said while glaring at Monocrow.

“So, you must have a reason for gathering us right? Time is ticking,” Old man boy said, “Be honest, you didn’t bring us for some ‘Opening ceremony” right?”

“A guy who gets it… now we’re talking” Monocrow laughed, “But, Syobai, the opening ceremony wasn’t a lie. Except, it’s more like an entrance ceremony… to a facility, rather than a school. You guys are going to take part in a very special field trip from now on!”

“...Field trip?” The iPad girl raised an eyebrow.

“A field trip right after an opening ceremony?” I said.

Everything going on was just… so _strange._

“So the mean guy’s name is Syobai, huh? Not like I care about males though…” Yuri said.

“So has everyone calmed down? I can’t explain the trip if you’re all talking over me.” Monocrow said, pretty much just acting like a sassy teacher.

I could see Yoruko grip onto her dress so tightly that her knuckles turned white, “Do you really think we are going to calm down?! Ever since we’ve come to this island nothing but weird stuff has been going on and now this?!”

“Maybe if you shut your mouth for two seconds you might get some answers. He’s trying to give an explanation.” Syobai rolled his eyes while Yoruko responded with an angry “What?!”

“Yoruko I understand how you feel but we really need to understand what’s going on first…” Yuki said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“...Now that you’ve all settled down, may I begin?” Monocrow cleared his… bird throat, and finally began to explain some shit. “Allow me to repeat myself, I am the head teacher of this field trip and I control Utsuroshima Island. I’m the crowiest of the crow. Monocrow. Nice to meet all of you! To confirm some things: yes, you are all Hope’s Peak Academy freshmen. You have been told to wear a certain outfit to go with your talent and go to a certain place, correct?”

“Yeah, but we have no memory after that. When we all woke up we were on this island.” I said.

“Ah, I apologize for being so cruel to you. Don’t worry, you guys are gonna have a lot of fun on this school trip. I got rid of that part you forgot to make it more of a… surprise.”

**_What does he mean by ‘got rid of that part’?_ **

**_Who… did this to us?_ **

“So, if we ignore how there’s a puppet that’s moving and talking on it’s own, this is just a normal event. Right?” Hibiki asked the other students.

“Well, I wouldn’t call it ‘normal’. See, there’s no end date for this trip.”

…

Hajime was the first to break the silence.

“What did you just say?”

“This trip has no end. Infinite days and infinite nights.”

“Oho… so you’re trapping us on this island?” Syobai said.

“I don’t think that’s how it works… we need to go home… and besides, we haven’t even seen the actual school building yet…” Iroha spoke nervously.

“Yeah! Stop messing with us."

"There’s a way to end this school trip.” Monocrow said.

“Oh yeah? How?”

After loud dude asked, I felt myself freeze, somehow, I knew the answer is not something I would want to hear.

“You have to kill someone.”

…

My mouth was open but no words would escape my throat. My mind could barely function, all I heard were words, but my mind refused to figure out who said what.

“...What?... What did you just say?”

  
  
“I said you need to kill someone.”

“Kill? Like… in a game?”

  
  
“No! I mean REAL murder! You could stab someone, tear their intestines out, separate the bones and flesh… hang their body... shoot them with a gun, cut their throat with a sickle, burn them with fire, hit em’ with a blunt weapon. Whatever floats your boat if you kill someone. Then you can end the field trip and escape the island.”

I finally found my voice, “...S-so this is a field trip… where we kill each other… right?”

“That’s right! In other words: ‘The killing school field trip’!”

“T-this news… I-it’s too much!”

“Don’t screw with us! Why?! Why?! Why do we have to kill someone?!” 

“Exactly! Why would we ever do what you tell us to?!”

“If anything, we could just swim out of here.”

“Y-yeah! We’ll never do that!! Don’t ever try to ruin our happy school trip life!”

  
  
“DAMN RIGHT!!” Everyone with muscles get over here we’re gonna beat this damn puppet to a pulp!”

“Hearing all this is making me pissed, count me in!”

I watched as the loud dude and Hajime got ready to attack a now very panicked Monocrow, “Hey, hey! You can’t use violence against a teacher!”

“Go for it! Beat him up!"

“Don’t get any closer Monocrow!”

The one voice we barely ever hear, spoke for the second time.

“That guy’s dangerous. One wrong move and he’ll execute you for breaking school rules.” Mikado said.

“Sorry I forgot your name but… what did you mean by that? Do you know something about this?” Loud dude questioned.

“My name is Mikado Sannoji and I am the leader of a secret association called ‘Void’, I am your ally.”

**_...Void?_ **

“W-what? What are you saying?” Hajime asked, though instead of being confused at Mikado’s words, he sounded kind of… shocked?

_Strange…_

“Ah… too much information… I can’t follow what’s happening…” Iroha said, letting go of me to properly hold her sketchbook.

“Hmph, what’s this about? Aren’t you just the Ultimate Wizard?” Monocrow scoffed at Mikado.

“Everyone! Get behind me! Getting close to that thing is dangerous!”

And just like that, all of us quickly ran behind him.

“Eh…? I don’t wanna see some guy’s behind though…”

“What the heck is going on?”

“I’m not sure… but I guess Mikado is our ally…?”

“What can YOU do?! Utsuroshima is my Island!” Monocrow yelled.

“Oh you’ll see… I will protect these people, no matter the cost-”

  
  


**_-BANG-_ **

  
  


Suddenly, it’s like time stopped.

The sound of a gunshot, the scent of smoke, and the sight of half of Mikado’s mask now laying broken on the ground.

I saw two adults run into the park, one being a woman with short orange hair and glasses, while the other was a man with spiky green hair and… a sun hat with goggles on it???

“That’s as far as you’ll get, asshole.” The woman said, her gun pointed at Mikado.

_What in the world is going on???_

“Phew… we weren’t too late. That’s a relief.” The man sighed.

Despite the appearance of the random strangers, everyone’s attention was still on Mikado.

“Fueeeeeh! Mikado?!?!?”

“Hey! Are you alright?! You just got shot in the face!”

  
  
“Looks like the mask protected him…”

“S-still…! We should get help just in case!”

“Hey! You guys! Stay away from that guy!” The mystery man said, “Don’t listen to a word he says! You’re being tricked!”

“Y-you mean Mikado?” I stuttered.

Hibiki began to break down, “I don’t know what’s going on anymore… I wanna go home…!”

“I-it’s okay sis! Everything’s gonna be okay!”

“What’s happening? Who are these people?” Yuki asked.

“Yuki Maeda, so we finally meet.” The mystery woman said, “...And look what you’ve gotten yourself into…”

... _What?_

“Yuki, do you know these people?” Sora asked him.

“N-no… I don’t. Not at all.”

“Rei… this situation…” The Mystery man said to the woman.

“I know, I couldn’t get information that far into it but… we’ll have to make due… guys, I know you’re confused. But, you have to listen to me. I don’t know who you are, or where you live, but the very culprit who brought you to this Island to do a killing game is… The mastermind, Mikado Sannoji!” The woman announced.

…

“W-what?!” 

“I know it’s hard to believe, but you have to believe us! We’ve been tracking this guy down for years! We’ve only just now caught him!”

“W-wait, you expect us to believe people who just showed up and shot someone?!” I said, taking a few steps back, accidentally bumping into Yuki and Syobai.

“I can’t explain everything right now, but one thing is for certain. Mikado Sannoji is a huge criminal. I can’t say for sure what his goal is but… He’s trying to execute a plan by making you all play the killing game!” Rei explained, “Mikado has tried very similar things before in the past and we’ve never been able to catch him, but today we finally have. If we let him escape now who knows what he’d do…”

“W-who are you to just… show up and tell us that…?” Iroha asked.

“We’re from the Kisaragi Foundation. We hunt and capture remnants of despair while also rescuing any survivors we can,” the mystery man said, “I’m in charge of the financial department. This girl here is in charge of gathering information.”

This must be bullshit right? Who would reveal details about themselves in front of their enemy?

“Kisaragi Foundation…? Remnants of despair…?

“I don’t have a clue what these guys are talking about…”

“...What do we even do here? Things are going way too fast…. I don’t even know what to do…”

“Mikado is the mastermind…? Then what was he talking about before? And what’s with the puppet?”

“Teruya, it’s time. Let’s finish this, quickly.” Rei said to the man.

“...Ah, got it.” The man, or Teruya nodded.

“Mikado Sannoji. You can no longer run away, your plans are foiled. For murder, violence, kidnapping, and thievery… we are well within our jurisdiction to arrest you. You will be taken under the Kisaragi Foundation shortly after being handed to the court. I don’t really care what happens after that.” Rei said, pointing her gun at him again.

“To be honest, we should have caught him at the Ryutaro incident last time… if it weren't for my mistake, we would have…” Teruya sighed.

“There’s no point in worrying about the past. What matters is the result… but… why is he being so-”

Just in that moment there was a flash of orange and a wave of heat that seemed to wash over all. Sparks flew every which way as each one of us blocked our faces with our arms.

“Aaargh!!”

“Aah… fufu… you had to reveal everything huh? How troublesome…” Mikado let out a dramatic sigh, “Well, regardless it works out in the end anyways. I was just gambling to see if you would come or not, playing the hero was harder than I thought… this calls for plan B.”

“Aaaarrrgh! Fire!”

“What even happened? It looked like Mikado was spitting out fire…”

“But what’s going on with Mikado right now?”

“So you revealed yourself, huh? You little…!” Teruya glared.

“Aww, give me a break. This is already a mess. If you keep going on like this you're just gonna make things harder for these poor students…” Mikado said.

“Is it just me or… did I just become a side character? Monocrow quietly said, “Are you sure you are okay with this Mikado? This isn’t even close to the original plan.”

“Well, it doesn't matter. I expected worse. This will be much easier for me now. Though… I really did want to try being the heroic guy…”

“Woah… is that really you, Mikado?” Yuki said in shock.

“...He’s talking with Monocrow…”

“...For real?”

“Rei, you alright?” Teruya asked Rei after the flames died down.

“It’s not a problem… I didn’t expect you to be so ready for us… But do you really think this matters? Do you really think you can just do whatever the hell you want?!” Rei yelled, “Do you think we’re stupid? We’ve studied you for years now. We were prepared for something like this!”

“Well, that’s why i’m gonna do something before you do anything stupid.”

“...What?”

“To be frank, this is really cutting it close… but more importantly… 18 people is over the limit!”

Just like before, flames lit up the park, but this time, they had a purpose. Mikado shot the flames at Rei.

I could see the sweat on her face and the burns covering her hands as the flames slowly consumed her.

Soon those flames grew brighter, and larger, I could practically feel the burning sensation from ten feet away.

It wasn’t too long until the flame was gone, and all that was left of Rei was a pile of ash on the ground.

“...Farewell…” Mikado chuckled.

…

**_Death._ **

**_I just… witnessed death._ **

**_I just watched a woman get burned alive._ **

“Y-you’re kidding me… Rei…?” Teruya was shocked at what took place before him, “Reeeeeiiiii!!!!” 

“Burnt without a trace… My, my…” Monocrow said.

“I’m assuming you all know your places now? There is no hope in attempting to defeat me.” Mikado said, turning to face the rest of us,

“ _All of you were fucked the second_ _you put your feet on this island!_ ”

“N-no… this can’t be happening…” Teruya muttered.

“Well, for being so courageous, I have a present just for you.” Mikado walked towards Teruya.

“Wait… this wasn’t what I…”

Before Teruya could finish his sentence, Mikado raised his arm aND USED HIS POWERS TO THROW TERUYA INTO THE FUCKING SKY.

I could hear his screams fade in just a few moments.

“GO TO HELL!” Mikado yelled, “It really is exciting to use magic… I could get used to this.”

  
  
“Mikado, I know you’re having fun but can’t you do something about this? Everyone is frozen.” Monocrow said.

“H-how the heck… do we react to something like this…?”

“Huh? Why are you all so surprised? Of course I can use magic. I’m the Ultimate Wizard!”

“Well, putting that all aside… What they said just now was true, right?” Syobai said casually.

“After going this far, I have nothing else to say. You’re correct,” Mikado confirmed, “I am the mastermind that kidnapped you all! Ooooh… saying that is so embarrassing.”

“...So you were going to hide the fact that you were the mastermind and control everything behind our backs?” the iPad girl asked.

“More or less… but the original plan is completely out of the question now, so it doesn't matter.”

“Let me ask a few questions,” Syobai began, “Now that we know you’re the mastermind, what else are we supposed to do? I mean, we found the culprit right? So if someone kills to escape, the game will end, right? Also, if I were you, I wouldn’t have just come out as the mastermind like that. To us, that duo was super suspicious. You definitely could have hid the fact you were the mastermind.”

“Well, it doesn't matter anyways. My true identity doesn't matter in the situation you’re in.”

“...Then?” I hesitantly asked.

“The killing game. That’s all that matters right now. Everything else is unimportant. Mastermind or not, the fact that i’m a student in the killing game doesn't change.”

“...So you’re saying what Monocrow said before still applies?” The iPad girl asked.

“Well, I hope everyone gets it now. Mikado here just showed you that this killing game is real. So in the end, nothing has changed! You guys are still going to have to participate in the killing game! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!” Monocrow laughed,

You know, like a psychotic asshole.

What was this **_feeling?_ **

This **_feeling_ ** inside of me?

**_Fear?_ **

**_Was I going… to die here?_ **

“T-that can’t be… we have to kill someone to leave this island?”

“That means someone could kill me anytime… anywhere…”

“Who the hell would do something as dirty as murder?! We’re not leaving this place by dirtying our hands!” the loud dude shouted… again.

“He’s right, and it’s as Yuri said. We can just swim out of here or send an SOS.” Setsuka said as calm as she could, “What Mikado said is shocking but we can’t let it get to us.”

“So you’re going to defy my? I really wouldn’t recommend that.”

“I won’t force you to murder… If you refuse to murder you must simply live on this island for the rest of your lives.” Monocrow said.

“...B-but being on this island forever… that’s…”

“The choice is yours to make. I just make the scenarios, that’s all.”

“Huh, so we’re really doing a killing game huh? Man, I haven’t done something this interesting in a long time… well, anyways, I think I get it so let’s put aside the fact that you kidnapped me for now. So to escape I just need to kill someone, right?” Syobai reached into his pocket.

“...Wait, what?” Hajime asked.

Suddenly Syobai pulled out a knife and lunged at Yuki and I, attempting to stab one of us.

"Yuki! (Y/n)! watch out!" Sora yelled.

I wanted to run, but all I did was freeze, squeezing my eyes shut- this is the end,

**_Isn't it?_ **

...But I never felt the knife stab my stomach.

It slashed my arm instead when I was yanked back and immediately wrapped in someone’s strong arms, my face pressed against their bare chest while I clung onto their jacket tightly.

And though my back faced the scene I still heard something hit the ground and the sound of Yuki yelling.

“SORA!”

**I didn’t dare look back.**

**End of Prologue**

**16 remain**


	4. Chapter 1 - In Sheep's Clothing, The Wolf Quietly Smiles - 1

I hesitantly turned my head to look at Sora, who was now laying on the ground, blood seeping from her stomach, while Syobai had seemingly disappeared. I was in shock, unable to move. And I still held on to the person who saved me. Despite knowing who it was.

Yes, I knew who saved me.

I knew who protected me.

But I still refused to look at him. I don’t know if it was embarrassment from the fact that it was him of all people who had to save me, or embarrassment from the fact that I didn’t want him to let go.

Though I still felt more than embarrassment. I felt blood leak out of the deep cut on my upper arm, dripping onto the gravel. I knew it was a deep and serious injury, the pain was enough to make me cry, my eyes stinging from the never ending salty tears I could not manage to wipe away. 

My vision was blurry and every sound was like static…

**_Am I okay…?_ **

“V-violence like this is not allowed in a school environment! Uh, please head to the ship and do not do anything until further instructions are given.” Monocrow sounded stressed and flew away.

“C’mon, we better get these two back to the ship, we need to get them help right now.” The person holding me said and picked me up as If I was a bride. I said nothing. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t do anything but silently suffer.

Until I passed out.

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


I woke up in a white room. In the white room were multiple beds and medical supplies. I guess I was in a hospital…? I looked at the bandage wrapped around my upper arm. I used my other hand to feel the texture of the medical gaws, moving my fingers from the start to the end. The texture against my hand just felt so… _familiar_? But I couldn’t remember a time where I had an injury like this...

_...What happened again?_

Oh… Syobai stabbed me in the arm with a knife and also stabbed…

Sora!

I looked to my right and saw Sora asleep on the bed next to mine, she had thick layers of bandages wrapped around her stomach.

I guess she was alive, but not as lucky as me. I knew Syobai was about to stab me in the chest or stomach. If it wasn’t for Hajime I might be dead right now.

I let out a sigh, realizing I will probably have to suck it up and thank him for saving me once I leave. After all our negative encounters, that will be awkward.

Suddenly I heard someone walk into the room- it was Yoruko.

“Oh! You’re awake, um…” 

Oh right, she still didn’t know my name.

“(Y/n)” I said in a tired voice.

“Right, I’m Yoruko… I can’t believe that happened."

I thought back to that very moment. Sora on the ground, the knife plunging into my skin, the blood.

**_I could’ve died._ **

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my mind, “Yeah… I-is Sora alright?”

“I think so, Syobai says she’s going to be fine.” Yoruko sighed, watching Sora as she slept.

“S-Syobai? But he’s the one who hurt us…”

???

“I know, but he decided to help you guys as an apology. Apparently stabbing you two was an accident.”

“Oh yeah, cause apologizing for hurting Sora and I when he was trying to kill Yuki is totally cool. Actions justified.” I rolled my eyes, “...Hey Yoruko, how long was I out?”

“Uh, you lost a lot of blood and passed out, so you’ve been asleep for about a day and a half? It’s just after breakfast right now.”

I nodded in response.

I didn’t know what else to say.

_I was still scared._

“If you’re feeling up to it, you can head to the diner where everyone else is. While you and Sora were asleep everyone decided to investigate the island and planned to meet at the diner to talk about what we found.”

“Diner…? I thought I was in a hospital…”

“Actually we’re on the ship, or the Monocruise is what Monocrow calls it. It’s a cruise ship with dorms and all different kinds of things for our convenience. It’s the big boat on the beach we all saw.”

“Yeah I assumed so.”

“We still don’t know the specifics, so that’s why we investigated and are about to meet up now. If you can, please head to the diner, I’m going to wait until Sora wakes up.”

“...Yeah, okay.” I said standing up and heading to the exit and out into the hallway.

The halls were lined with potted plants and the paint on the walls was starting to chip. The floor was decorated with a black and white checkered pattern, and there were also red and golden rugs. Strange design choice but okay.

Wandering around the ship I saw Syobai at the end of the hallway looking out the window. I didn’t care if he treated my wound, he still made it in the first place and hurt my friend. So in my case, giving him a thank you was not going to happen, so I continued on.

Eventually I found the diner, the floor had more of that red and gold carpet, but there was also a large fancy table with 16 seats in the middle of the room that were also red and gold.

What the hell is up with the red and gold???

Every seat at the table was taken except five empty seats at the right end of the table. I decided to take the empty spot next to notepad boy and rested my chin in the palm of my hand, drawing invisible swirls on the white table cloth with my finger as I listened to other people’s conversations- It didn’t seem like anyone noticed I was there yet.

“Kanade! That’s a ‘Kemono Friends’ keychain right? Do you like anime by any chance? I really enjoy it!” Iroha asked Kanade.

“Um… I actually do like some anime… a little bit…”

“AH! Really? Which ones?”

“I really enjoyed one called ‘Corpse Party’.”

Wait what.

“S-something that gory?!”

“Oi! Can you guys quiet down?! Why is there so much noise when we’re trying to talk about our investigation?!” Hajime yelled at the two girls.

“And Mr. No fun strikes again…” I muttered under my breath.

“Isn’t Kokoro sleeping?” Notepad boy asked, “Oh! OH! That’s definitely another scoop! ‘A person who uses their iPad while they sleep’!”. I guess the iPad girl is named Kokoro, huh?

“Uhhhhhh… Kokoro we-we’re starting now so I don’t know if sleeping is, uh… Well if she’s tired…” The loud dude blushed.

“I hope Sora’s okay, Syobai did attack her after all”. I heard some of them whisper to each other.

...Uh, what about me??? I also got attacked by Syobai!!!

“...Why is sharing information so difficult for this group…?” I looked up to face the doorway where Sora and Yoruko entered the diner.

“It’s okay Yoruko. I’ve half given up too.” Yuki sighed, “...Huh?! Sora?!”

“Oh okay, Y'all really acknowledge Sora and ignore me huh?

“...Hello… what kind of mess have I walked into?” Sora asked.

“Sora! You woke up! We were really worried about you!”

…

“Are you doing okay now?”

…

“A-a-a-a-a-are you okay- ! Ow, I bit my tongue…”

…

“Don’t worry Sora! I wrote a whole article about you getting stabbed by Syobai!”

…

“Ah… This is embarrassing. This is my first time being welcomed like this…

Haha, yeah, **_same._ **

“Sora…! Thank you… so much. I’m very VERY sorry. You got hurt trying to protect me… If you had been seriously injured, I didn’t know what I'd do…” Yuki said.

“Right, we don’t know how well that Syobai guy treated you and (Y/n), so you should be extra careful… speaking of (Y/n), is she still passed out or somethin’?” Hajime asked.

Ah… okay, so my existence on this island has now been acknowledged. Was there an **_‘Is she okay?_ ** After having her arm cut open by a knife?’ Or anything? **_No._ **

I decided to show the 13 other people in this room that there was in fact, 14.

“Oh, no I passed away last night because Syobai injected me with fatal poison, I’m a ghost now, that’s why none of you noticed me walk in and asked if i’m okay. Though it’s truly hurtful that none of you were wondering about how I am doing after getting a deep slash in my arm from a knife and passing out, let alone seem to care.” I said as everyone turned to look at me. Some looked apologetic and awkward, while others seemed embarrassed for not noticing.

“Well, your injury wasn’t as serious as Sora’s, so you don’t expect us to be very concerned for you, do you?” Notepad boy said as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

I let go of the table cloth I didn’t even know I was gripping and stood up, looking at each person in the room. 

“Y’know, the way you worded that last part kind of makes it sound like you guys wouldn’t care if I died- you’ll all be like: ‘(Y/n)’s dead? It’s fine, could be worse!”

“(Y-Y/n)! You know that’s not true!” Iroha said.

“It’s… ‘not true’... huh...HUH?! DID YOU ALL NOT KNOW HOW MUCH BLOOD I LOST?! IF I LOST MORE I COULD’VE DIED! WAIT, YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU’RE ALL JUST PRETENDING TO LIKE ME! NONE OF YOU LIKE ME AT ALL! YOU JUST THINK I’M JUST SOME STUPID USELESS BAKER GIRL WHO ISN’T WORTHY OF AN ‘ARE YOU OKAY?’ CAUSE YOU WANNA KNOW SOMETHING?! I’M FRICKIN TRAUMATIZED AFTER WHAT HAPPENED, AND NONE OF YOU EVEN CARE! OH I GET IT! YOU’RE ALL PLANNING TO KILL ME RIGHT!? SO YOU CAN ALL LEAVE THE ISLAND TOGETHER! HA! I BET I JUST EXPOSED YOUR WHOLE PLAN! **BECAUSE ALL OF YOU HATE ME!**  
 **YOU HATE ME**

 ******YOU HATE ME**

 ******YOU HATE ME**

**YOUHATEMEYOUHATEMEYOUHATEMEYOUHATEMEYOUHATEMEYOUHATEME-"**

**_Why do they hate me?_ **

I felt hands grip my shoulders as I was shaken out of my trance.

“(Y/N)! CALM DOWN!”

My breath hitched and I looked up to see Hajime.

“H-hey, we don’t hate you. And no one wants to kill you either alright? Everything's gonna be just fine.” He said as he gave me a comforting smile.

**_He’s lying, his smile must be fake._ **

I clenched my teeth together as tears formed in my eyes. Anger, fear, and confusion all running through my system and then…

  
  
  


_I slapped him._

  
  
  


Hajime took a step back in surprise. Everyone saw, I could see the shock on their faces.

My hand was shaking as I slowly lowered it to my side, those tears finally falling.

“D-don’t touch me.”

And then I left.

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


I entered the women’s restroom and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was a mess.

…

**_No, I’m not a mess. I’m perfect._ **

**_I’ve always been perfect._ **

**_They don’t need to care about me, I don’t need them._ **

**_I’m perfect._ **

**_I’m too perfect._ **

**_They hate me._ **

**_They hate me because I am too perfect for them._ **

**_Forget Sora_ **

**_Forget Yuki_ **

**_Forget Iroha_ **

**_Forget Yuri_ **

**_I don’t need those ‘friends’._ **

**_They’re not good enough for me._ **

**_All they want is to see me suffer._ **

Suddenly, I heard the announcement bell ring and Monocrow’s voice through the speakers.

“Really sorry for interrupting your hopeful fantasies. Even though something like that could never happen. Sorry, my comrades. Dealing with the emergency has made me quite busy. Since the preparations are finally complete, I must now re-explain. Everyone please come to Utsuroshima park. If you are absent you'll be breaking a rule and will be punished accordingly.”

**_I’m the only Angel trapped on this island of Hell._ **

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


I arrived at the park after everyone was already there, so I decided to stand a bit farther away from the others to avoid speaking to them.

“You’re all here. Monocrow said from his place on the fountain.

“Wait… (Y/n), Syobai, and Mikado are here too?” Yoruko said, confused.

“Why wouldn’t we come? Were you even listening? If we don’t come we’ll be punished.” Syobai said as he raised an eyebrow.

“Greetings everyone! It’s been awhile!” Mikado said enthusiastically.

“Just where were you yesterday…?” Kokoro asked.

“I was talking with Monocrow, planning the next few days…”

“Before this guy starts giving us his explanation, let’s just beat him up!” The loud man yelled, “Then we can force him to send us home!”

“You’re right! We can ask why he kidnapped us later!” Hajime agreed.

“Wait! Wait! Everyone stop! That is not something Monocrow, the crow amongst all crows can forgive!” Monocrow said, “I called you all here so incidents like the one Syobai caused won’t happen again!”

  
  
“Syobai’s incident?”

“Yesterday, the short-tempered Syobai went ahead and stabbed two people before I could explain… there are rules to this game.” Monocrow said, “Get this through your skulls! Violence is forbidden here! The only time you can harm somebody is if you’re murdering them! Harm without the intent of murder will result in punishment!”

“So in short: Violence without the intent of murder is against the rules?”

“That’s right, I will also explain another very important rule, the other night Syobai stabbed two people as soon as he heard that killing someone allows you to escape the island. However, doing stuff like that is not okay! This trip has special rules!”

“Special rules?”

“It’s not random killing… only those who can kill in secret and clear the class trial and escape.”

“C-class trial?”

“Uhuhu… if someone among you is killed, after a short time to investigate everyone will have to participate in a class trial, the blackened must face off against the remaining spotless students in a battle where everyone’s lives are on the line! Your job in a trial is to debate until you expose the murderous blackened. Through the final vote, the person with most votes will be seen as the blackened. If the answer is correct… Only the blackened will receive punishment! The remaining students will return to their trip. But… if that answer is wrong… Then everyone besides the blackened is punished and the blackened will be set free! These are the rules of the class trial… do you all understand?”

“I see… so Syobai’s actions last night were no good at all… if Sora or (Y/n) had died, everyone would know Syobai was the killer.” Mikado said.

“Isn’t your reaction a little funny considering you’re the mastermind?” The loud dude asked.

“If there was a rule like that you should have explained it BEFORE the killing part.” Syobai sounded annoyed, “Who’s setting up these rules and restricting us like this anyways?”

“I don’t like agreeing with Syobai, but he’s right. This all seems like some strange way to appeal to someone’s weird fetish…” Emma muttered.

“...For what purpose…? I spoke up.

“Isn’t investigating your only hope? I won’t set restrictions on your investigations so by all means, please continue. Ah, I have one more thing to give to all of you.” Suddenly Monocrow gave everyone a smartphone?

???

“W-what is this?”

“The thing I just gave you is the Student Handbook+. It’s an upgraded version of the ones they use at Hope’s Peak Academy. It only works with your unique fingerprint and contains student profiles, rules, a chatting service, and other assorted functions. Everyday life without this handbook is nearly impossible, do not lose it, you will be punished for it.”

“You keep saying punished but… what does that mean exactly?” Notepad boy asked.

“What do you mean ‘What’? It’s an execution, death!"

“...Death?!”

  
  
“Don’t anger Monocrow. It may not look like it, but your lives are at his fingertips… or rather feathers…” Mikado said.

“I’m monitoring even your slightest movements one by one. I will know if you break the rule.”

“...What if no killings happen? What then?”

“Although I know that won’t be the case, you would simply live here forever peacefully.” Monocrow said, “I said this before… but I will never force you to kill. The choice is yours.”

“You’re telling us if we want to leave we have to kill someone!?”

“Mhm… well, I should be off now. Be sure to read the remaining rules in your handbook before you head back out. Unless you don’t want to read the rules… in which case you’ll probably get executed for violating a rule you didn’t even know about. Fuhahahaha! Phew~ at least I got some more time in this Hajime x Reader.”

Monocrow then flew away.

“Aah… He left. We still had a mountain of questions to ask him…” Iroha sighed.

“No worries, Monocrow may be gone but we still have this guy! MIKADO SANNOJI!!!” The loud dude shouted, you know, like always.

“Eh? What about me?"

“What do you mean ‘what about me?’ You’re the goddamn mastermind! You even said you talked and organized things with Monocrow!” Hajime yelled.

“This guy is definitely on the same wavelength as Monocrow. Better if we just off him here and clear the class trial.” Loud dude sighed.

**_I knew they wanted to kill._ **

“So you really are considering murder, huh?” I glared at the others.

“It doesn't seem like Mikado is going to answer our questions…”

**_Ha, they’re ignoring me again._ **

**_Whatever._ **

“Wait, wait a moment everyone. You’re all making a hasty mistake.” Mikado said, “I did say i’m the mastermind. But did I tell you I was on the same page as Monocrow?”

“What are you saying?”

“Just as I said! While I am the mastermind of this game, I will not be on the mastermind’s side for the killing game. Like everyone else I am a participant. Do you understand what i’m saying?”

“...Your conditions are the same as ours?” Kokoro asked.

“That’s right Kokoro~! As she said, I can kill any of you and any of you can kill me. And in that case I will also participate in the class trial and I will also receive punishment if I lose. The same thing goes for the rules. I have no information either. I’m truly on the listening side.”

“What?”

“Wait, I was listening as I was leaving just now and I don’t understand.” Syobai started, “If you were going to do that from the start, why come out as the mastermind? What do you gain from participating in this crazy game with us?”  
  
“Well, that’s directly connected to the reason I became your kidnapper, so I can’t tell you. All I know is that as a participating student: I share your conditions and must participate in the killing game.”

“And you expect us to believe that?” Sora asked.

“You’re free to believe me or not. But I speak the truth, in fact, I would like to become acquaintances with you all. In a situation like this, full of despair, bonds are important, are they not?"

“T-that’s ridiculous! Why do we have to bond with the one who created this despair in the first place?!”

“Yeah! I could totally kill you for that!”

**_Killers._ **

“Yeah! And I could totally kill you for that!”

**_They’re all killers._ **

“Remember, I’m in the same situation as all of you. I’m prepared to both kill and be killed. I’m no different from other students so treat me the same. If you want to kill me then… huhu… go for it. If you can, that is.”

And then Mikado vanished into thin air.

“What?! He disappeared!” Emma gasped.

“Damn…! Is that the same magic we saw the other night?” Hajime asked.

**_The other night…_ **

I decided to stop listening to the others and head to the dorms, I didn’t want to think about that night.

_ _ _ _ _ 

I unlocked my room and entered it for the first time. On one side of the room was my bed, a nightstand, couch, closet, and bookshelf full of different dessert recipe books- the other side of the room however was the fun part.

There was a small kitchen that looked like it was full of baking supplies and ingredients, along with little glass cases to display my desserts and candies. It actually looked like a little candy store- without a cash register that is.

I sat down on my bed and turned on my handbook to look at the rules.

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

  
  


**RULES:**

_1 - The school trip at Utsuroshima has no time limit._

_2 - Once a murder takes place a class trial will be held shortly there after. Participation is mandatory for all remaining students._

_3 - If the correct blackened is chosen at the class trial, only the blackened killer is punished._

_4 - If the correct blackened is not chosen at the class trial then all students except for the blackened will be punished._

_5 - If the blackened wins the class trial, the blackened completes the school trip and can leave to the outside world._

_6 - In the case of multiple blackened killers, in quick question, only the first killer is recognized._

_7 - Night time is from 10pm to 7am, during this time the Monocruise will be locked and you will not be able to leave._

_8 - During night time, scary monsters patrol Utsuroshima. Any harm that comes from these beasts is your responsibility._

_9 - During night time, you are only allowed to sleep in your own room in the Monocruise. Sleeping in another room or outside of your room is against the rules._

_10 - Violence is forbidden on Utsuroshima. This includes violence against Monocrow and the destruction of property. However, violence with the intent to murder is excused._

_11 - Monocrow is not involved in any killing._

_12 - The Student Handbook+ is limited to one person and can only be operated by fingerprint. If it is carelessly lost then you will be punished._

_13 - After 3 students discover a body, the body discovery announcement will play. Whether this includes the culprit’s sighting is on a case to case basis._

_14 - You are freely allowed to investigate Utsuroshima there are no specific regulations._

_15 - Rules can be added and removed as needed._

_ +_+_+_+_

  
  


That’s a lot of rules to remember…

Just as I was about to set my handbook aside I saw a small tab in the corner and tapped on it, revealing the profiles of all the other students.

**_Why would I look at these? It’s not like I want to be buddies with a bunch of killers._ **

However, out of boredom I decided to learn everyone’s names and talents.

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

  
  


**‘SORA’**

**Ultimate ?**

D.O.B: ???

Height: 167cm

Weight: ???kg

Chest: ???cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘KANADE OTONOKOJI’**

**Ultimate Guitarist**

D.O.B: 11/11

Height: 145cm

Weight: 48kg

Chest: 90cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘HIBIKI OTONOKOJI’**

**Ultimate Vocalist**

D.O.B: 11/11

Height: 145cm

Weight: 41kg

Chest: 65cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘YURI KAGARIN’**

**Ultimate Spaceman**

D.O.B: 4/12

Height: 153cm

Weight: 54kg

Chest: 90cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘SHINJI KASAI’**

**Ultimate Firefighter**

D.O.B: 11/9

Height: 188cm

Weight: 92kg

Chest: 119cm

Bond 0/5

**‘YORUKO KABUYA’**

**Ultimate Hostess**

D.O.B: 12/10

Height: 160cm

Weight: 50kg

Chest: 82cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘MIKADO SANNOJI’**

**Ultimate Wizard**

D.O.B: 10/1

Height: 180cm

Weight: 75kg

Chest: 93cm

Bond: 0/1

**‘SETSUKA CHIEBUKURO’**

**Ultimate Billiards Player**

D.O.B: 9/9

Height: 170cm

Weight: 55kg

Chest: 90cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘(Y/N) (L/N)’**

**Ultimate Dessert Chef**

D.O.B: __ /__

Height: 150cm

Weight: ___kg

Chest: ___cm

**‘IROHA NIJIUE’**

**Ultimate Painter**

D.O.B: 3/30

Height: 149cm

Weight: 43kg

Chest: 74cm

Bond: 1 / 5

**‘SYOBAI HASHIMOTO’**

**Ultimate Broker**

D.O.B: 8/3

Height: 178cm

Weight: 73kg

Chest: 88cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘YUKI MAEDA’**

**Ultimate Lucky Student**

D.O.B: 5/28

Height: 169cm

Weight: 62kg

Chest: 75cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘HAJIME MAKUNOUCHI’**

**Ultimate Boxer**

D.O.B: 12/26

Height: 176cm

Weight: 85kg

Chest: 104cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘EMMA MAGOROBI’**

**Ultimate Actress**

D.O.B: 7/2

Height: 178cm

Weight: 56kg

Chest: 68cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘KOKORO MITSUME’**

**Ultimate Psychologist**

D.O.B: 5/6

Height: 158cm

Weight: 50kg

Chest: 80cm

Bond: 0/5

**‘NIKEI YOMIURI’**

**Ultimate Journalist**

D.O.B: 7/4

Height: 172cm

Weight: 68kg

Chest: 85cm

Bond: 0/5

_+_+_+_+_

  
  


After reading the last of the details I decided to take a nap.

  
  
  


**_No one is going to kill me._ **

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nobody:
> 
> (Y/n): I don't need friends, they disappoint me.


	5. Chapter 1 - In Sheep's Clothing, The Wolf Quietly Smiles - 2

I woke up with a start at the sound of the bell. There was no clock, but I could see it wasn’t night time through the window. I guess no one decided to kill me.

**_Yet._ **

“It is officially 7:00 am. Wake up everyone! I hope you all have a vigorous and comfortable day.”

**-click-**

After the announcement ended, I saw a little blinking light come from my handbook. I picked it up and turned it on only to see I had been added to… a group chat?

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

  
  


**CHAT ROOM**

**1 IN CHAT**

**Mikado Sannoji has invited (Y/n) (L/n) and 14 other people.**

**Mikado Sannoji**

**< ( Greetings Everyone! ) pm xx:xx**

**< ( This handbook even has texting! Cool, right? ) pm xx:xx**

**< ( Bond together through PMs and group chats! ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Syobai Hashimoto has left the chat**

**Kokoro Mitsume has left the chat**

**Yoruko Kabuya has left the chat**

**Yuri Kagarin has left the chat**

**Hibiki Otonokoji has left the chat**

**Nikei Yomiuri has left the chat**

**Yuki Maeda has left the chat**

**Hajime Makunouchi has left the chat**

**Setsuka Chiebukuro has left the chat**

**pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Mikado Sannoji**

**< ( Seriously? ) pm xx:xx**

**Kanade Otonokoji**

**< ( Hello. ) pm xx:xx**

**Shinji** **Kasa** **i**

**< ( ? ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Emma Magorobi has left the chat**

**pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Sora**

**< ( :P ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Sora has left the chat**

**Shinji Kasai has left the chat**

**Kanade Otonokoji has left the chat**

**pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Mikado Sannoji**

**< ( ugh. ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Mikado Sannoji has left the chat**

**pm xx:xx**

  
  


**(Y/n) (L/n) has entered the chat**

**(Y/n) (L/n) has left the chat**

**am xx:xx**

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

  
  


What a waste of time.

I decided it was time to get up for the day, but after I got out of bed I heard my stomach growl.

Oh yeah, I haven’t eaten since I had those crappy jelly beans.

I looked at the variety of baking ingredients for possibly making a breakfast dessert… but it was all just sprinkles and frosting.

I groaned realizing that if I wanted to eat I’d have to go to the diner. Most likely all the others would be there too.

**_I just won’t talk to them._ **

I quietly opened the door of my room and stepped into the hall and closed the door behind me. I quickly crouched behind a plant so no one could see me, (Perks of being small) and peaked around the leaves to see if the hallway was clear. I didn’t want to end up in a conversation with those potential killers, I just wanted to finally eat some food.

I stayed in place for a while, waiting to see if anyone was about to leave their rooms. When nobody did I stood up and pressed my back against the wall, walking sideways as if I was in a spy movie.

I kept this up until I made it to the entrance of the diner, where everyone was currently at the table - well everyone besides Mikado and Syobai. Before entering I decided to listen to what everyone was saying. _I hope they aren’t saying bad things about me._

**_No, I shouldn’t care, I'm better than them._ **

“What the…? Hajime, what have you been doing to be that drenched in sweat?” Shinji asked.

“Huh? Oh, I did some early mornin’ training. I was gonna skip it because of this whole situation but decided to go through with it.” Hajime responded.

“Wha-WHAAAAT?!?! You went training and didn’t ask me to come?! As a training maniac myself I can’t overlook this!”

What the hell i’m standing twenty feet away and that _still_ hurt my ears.

“Oh? You like trainin’ too, huh? Well, I welcome you to join me. Meet me at the exit every morning when you wake up.”

“Yeah, that’s great for you guys, but can you not come to the diner right after? You smell bad…”

Ha, get rekt Mr. No Fun.

“I have to agree with Yoruko. It’s gotten to the point that I have to put on triple perfume!” Yuri crossed his arms, “This is why boys are the worst!”

What?

“Well then, did you all sleep well last night?” Setsuka asked everyone.

“I-I don’t know if this is wrong to say but… I slept like a rock last night…” Yoruko said quietly.

“Isn’t that a good thing? Staying pessimistic about all this won’t do us any good.” Emma said, “Being moody isn’t good for your beauty, you know?”

“Ahahahaha! Of course the lovely Emma is so witty! Why aren’t you all clapping?!” Yuri said.

Uh.

“N-nevermind that… Kokoro, when we were at the park yesterday you disappeared. Where did you go?” Yuki asked Kokoro.

“...Huh? ...I’m… just not really good with crowds…”

“Well, at the very least we should be avoiding Syobai, Mikado, and (Y/n) like the plague. Well, at least avoid (Y/n) until she can get herself together.”

I clenched my teeth at Yoruko’s words. _Is she for real?_

“I-I-I-I-I agree with Y-Yoruko… and e-even t-that, K-Kokoro… Y-you’re at the d-diner… R-right now… s-so…” Shinji stuttered.

“No, I only came here to eat breakfast. Not to meet with everyone… In fact, I was just thinking about eating somewhere else where people aren’t all around me.” Kokoro said while everyone tried to keep her here.

“Eh? Don’t be like that! If you go around alone people like Syobai or Mikado might go after you!”

_**Yet none of you care if I go around alone?** _

“Yeah… even though violence isn’t allowed, those two strike me as people who would kill.”

**_Or maybe you would kill too._ **

“Y-you don’t really mean that… Right?”

“It’s fine, I don’t need to worry about it for now… I’ll participate if you really need me… for now, I’ll be going.” Kokoro walked out the door and right past me without sparing me a glance.

“A-ah… She left…”

“Don’t worry about her. Some people are just like that. She wouldn’t go down easily anyways. More importantly, why don’t we start eating? There’s plenty more packed lunches from yesterday, right?”

“B-but… Setsuka… eating boxed lunches is kind o-o-o-of frustrating…”

“We can’t really do anything about it Shinji. There’s ingredients at the store but not a place to cook them.”

“Shinji, when are you going to stop with that weird act you’ve been doing? It’s really annoying…” Hibiki said.

“I’m… I’m sorry… I m-messed up.... I knew I could n-never get a girl…”

“It’s fine, it’s not like boxed lunches taste bad or anything. There's nothing else we can do.”

_“When such desires are spotted, like a hero I make my appearance!!”_

“...Was that?”

Suddenly Mikado appeared in the room carrying trays of fancy looking food.

Yum.

“Hello! Delivery from Mikado’s restaurant has arrived! Who ordered breakfast?” Mikado said, covering the table in different breakfast dishes as well as clean plates and silverware.

“Uwaah?! Mikado?!” 

“Oh! It’s food! Food!”

“You bastard! What are you doing?!” Shinji yelled at Mikado.

“Hm…? What do you mean what am I doing? I heard you were getting tired of the boxed lunches so I made breakfast myself!” Mikado said with a smile on his... mask.

“Eh?! You made it yourself?!”

“But, there’s no cooking facilities for you to make this!”

“Oh, that’s a company secret… Don’t worry about that. Now then… Everyone! Eat up!”

_I swear if he broke into my room and used my oven…_

“W-wait! Maybe he poisoned the food!” Hibiki stated.

“As if… We’d have to do a class trial if I did that…”

“You’re the mastermind! Why are you doing something like this for us?!”

“Y-yeah! There’s no way i’m eating this!”

“Did I not tell you? Bonds are an important part of relationships. I’m relatively serious about making friends with you all. Why are you bullying a fellow classmate?” Mikado said, “Yesterday you all went and did your own things but no one came to see me! I was really hurt!”

“Do you not realize the situation you’re in? Why would we wanna hang out with our captor?” Hajime asked.

“I see where you’re coming from. I guess the reason you would talk to me is to learn about my motives. Of course… I can’t answer that, huhu…”

“It doesn't matter. We’ve all decided to ignore you Mikado. We’re grateful for the food. But can you go somewhere else?” Setsuka asked.

“I’d leave, but people are already eating me food~”

Huh?

I peeked my head around a little further to see Yuri stuffing his face with Mikado’s cooking.

“Yuri you bastard! Why are you eating that?!” Sir Shouty Pants Shinji yelled.

“Sorry! This food is just so delicious!” Yuri said, proceeding to practically inhale more food.

“Wow, it’s so tasty…” Kanade hummed, taking a bite of a pancake she put on her plate.

“Kanade?! Why are you eating?! Who said you could eat?!” Hibiki yelled.

“H-huh?! I’m s-sorry… It just looked so good…”

“They aren’t kidding. My food tastes just as good as food from a 5-star restaurant.” Mikado said.

“I’d rather not eat food a boy makes but you’re very talented. Would you like to work for me?” Yuri asked Mikado.

“What? Why are you having friendly talk with Mikado like that?!”

“It really does look good though… and I mean Yuri and Kanade ate it so I guess it’s not poisoned or anything.”

“Look, you can hate me but don’t hate on my cooking. It’s one of my rare praises.” Mikado sighed.

“Jeez… just get out of here! Everything’s a mess because of you now…” Setsuka glared at him.

“Oho! Very well, I will take my leave! But don’t worry! From now on i’ll serve meals everyday!”

“Phew… finally.”

After Mikado disappeared I decided to enter the room. Immediately everyone had their gaze on me. I always loved it when all eyes were on me, but right now, I just felt small and vulnerable. 

**_But they can’t know that._ **

“G-good morning (Y/n)!” Iroha spoke up while almost everyone else just looked at me awkwardly. 

“...Uh… let’s eat.” Kanade said as I walked over to the table and grabbed a plate. Immediately I began dishing up some food. Including 3 waffles, chocolate covered strawberries, and a large pile of whipped cream on top. 

“You should eat something healthy too, I don’t think I've ever seen you eat anything without a bunch of sugar.” Hajime said as he pointed at my plate.

“Well I haven’t eaten since you stole my Milky way bars and I also got my arm cut open with a knife so I think I deserve to eat whatever I want.” Just to spite him, I pulled a container of rainbow sprinkles out of my apron pocket and dumped the entirety on top of my breakfast without breaking eye contact. I swear I saw a look of disgust on his face before I turned around and walked away.

I sat down at an empty table away from the group and ate my 5-star breakfast in silence as I listened to the others.

“Yoruko, try this. It’s lobster.”

“I-I won’t eat! I won’t lose to the mastermind!”

“Come on, Yuki. Say ‘ahh’.”

“No! W-wait Emma! Even if it’s you I shouldn’t- Nnnngh-!”

“Ah! Feed me too!”

“...What a mess…”

“Sorry Setsuka… I couldn’t contain myself after seeing everyone eat…”

“Is everyone eating?”

“S-sorry… I just had to…”

“Come on Setsuka! Don’t be like that, we don’t know what Mikado is planning but it’s safe to eat!”

“Ah well, I suppose you’re right. Shall we all eat Mikado’s food from now on?”

“I-I won’t eat it! I’ll eat the boxed lunches, I don’t care how amazing that food smells…”

“It’s fine. We won’t force you. There’s still plenty of boxed lunches. Everyone can have what they want.”

“Let’s do as Sora says! We’ve lost a lot of time because of Mikado so hurry up and eat!”

_ _ _ _ _  
  


After about an hour, everyone just sat or stood by the table talking, I decided to stay out of the conversation.

**_I can’t trust them._ **

“Yeah, it’s okay for everyone to investigate but we should meet up from time to time so we can discuss our findings.” Yuki said.

“Yeah! Good idea, Yuki. You’ve already improved a lot!” Shinji shouted… as always.

“Today is the… Third day on this Island for us?” Iroha muttered.

I still can’t believe it. Then again I was asleep for a whole day so…

“It’s the third day but we still haven’t learned anything.”

“Now, now… We just need to be patient. There’s lots of places we haven’t properly checked.”

“Uh… I just thought of something… It’s been three days since we’ve been kidnapped so shouldn’t someone be looking for us?”

“Oh! That’s right! Surely by now the police should be looking for us.”

“I see! So as long as we wait it out a rescue team should come and save us!”

_A rescue team…? We get to go home?_ I couldn’t help but smile.

“Ah! I feel very hopeful now!”

“Haha, did you say something about ‘Hopeful’?”

All of us turned our heads to see Monocrow was suddenly in the room and perched on the end of the table.

“Aaah! That scared me!” Yuki jumped.

“D-don’t just pop up like that! Idiot!” Hajime said, pointing at the bird.

“A rescue team isn’t coming. Throw away trivial hope.”

And just like that, my smile was gone. I stood motionless. Only the speaking voices existed.

“W-what are you saying?! What do you mean a rescue team won’t come?!” Hibiki stuttered.

“ _Because according to the world this island doesn't even exist.”_

“Huh…?”

“Those two people from the Kisaragi were the first and last invading outsiders, they’re both gone and I see no reason for them to come back. Just in case however I reinforced the island… Well, there’s really nothing to worry about since a rescue team isn’t coming in the first place. I mean, you all don’t even exist right now.”

“...What do you mean?”

“Oh it’s nothing, if you want to believe a rescue team is coming go right ahead. You’ll only fall into despair after finding out there’s no such rescue team. Huahahahahahaha!”

And then Monocrow was gone. 

“That bastard.... Showing up just to ruin the mood.” Shinji huffed.

“...So now what? Should we believe Monocrow?”

“It’s definitely a complete lie. There’s no way a rescue team isn’t coming.”

“T-that’s right! With how the world is now our locations will show on GPS and stuff… think positive! Positive!”

“Really…? It’s just a lie he’s telling us…?”

I’d like to think that, but _I know_ it’s true.

“Ignoring all that, shouldn’t we continue our conversation? Spending time in these facilities has been hind of fun! If we weren’t in such a dire situation I might have had fun here. Oh! That reminds me! I better write about all of these facilities in my article.” Nikei said, writing on his notepad “Crazy unvisited island is actually a beautiful resort!”

“Speaking of things on this island, those Student Handbook+ are really useful.”

“Well, it’s thanks to them that we can actually lock our rooms so be sure not to lose them.”

“It’s a violation of the rules to lose them anyways, so… Hajime spoke, “...Speaking of that he said we’d be punished for breaking the rules. Do ALL the punishments have to be dangerous?”

“No, I’m pretty sure he said punishment = execution in the class trials. So it should be the same. In other words, breaking the rules means death.” Yuri said, pointing his finger in the air.

“That’s… scary. But would he really kill us? If our lives aren’t on the line ignoring the rules shouldn’t be that big of a problem.” Iroha said quietly.

“You may be right but I don’t think anyone is willing to test the theory…” Emma sighed.

“You can’t blame us. I mean that Mikado guy already burned someone right in front of us.”

**_She died._ **

“You could see that as an example of what might happen if we break the rules.”

“Mikado’s powers… Syobai’s willingness to stab… (Y/n)’s lack of trust in us… this all makes me uncomfortable.” Shinji sighed.

**_Maybe if you care about me you’ll earn more of my trust._ **

“Why is everyone so down? Everything went well yesterday so i’m sure things will be okay.”

“That’s right. The rules don’t restrict us from investigating so we just have to be careful.”

“Since we’re all almost done we should start our investigations soon.”

“Hey, instead of being alone wouldn’t setting a time for us all to be here work better? We could exchange our findings here when we do.” Shinji asked.

“I agree. I’ll let Kokoro know.” Emma said with a smile.

“Alright. Sounds good. Everyone, be careful investigating toda-” 

  
  


**_-BOOM-_ **

  
  


There was the sound of a loud and terrifying explosion. It sounded like something very strong hit the ground. It was so powerful that it shook the boat like there was an earthquake.

Immediately everyone panicked, I didn’t see what everyone did, but I saw Iroha and Hibiki practically dive under the table. 

I lost my balance as the boat shook and almost fell to the ground, but before that happened Hajime grabbed my arm and pulled me against him, protectively wrapping his arms around me and covering my head, “W-what’s goin’ on?! Are we under attack?!” he asked everyone.

“That came from outside!” Yuki said, pointing at the door.

“We have to hurry up and check it out!”

I pushed my hands against Hajime’s chest so he’d let go of me.

“I-I told you not to touch me!” I said without looking at him, I couldn’t bring myself to.

_He was just trying to help._

**_Or maybe he’s trying to deceive me._ **

**_After all, out of everyone,_ **

**_He could kill me the easiest._ **

I turned around to quickly walk to the door, doing my best to not think about how fast my heart was racing.

The reason had to be fear. 

Nothing else.

_ _ _ _ _ 

  
  


Soon we all stood outside. 

“W-what is this?”

Before us was a sight we did not expect to see.

Syobai sat beaten up in the sand, a small ring of fire around him on the ground, while Mikado…

WAS FLYING IN THE FUCKING SKY.

“Absurd. To think you would attack with such a low level of skill.” Mikado said, while Syobai grunted in response.

“H-Huuuh?! Why is Syobai all… No! More importantly why is Mikado flying?!” Shinji yelled.

“W-what happened here?” I spoke up.

“W-wait! Syobai! Mikado! What’s the meaning of this?!”

Monocrow flew over to us, an angry look on his… bird face, i guess.

“Ah, it’s nothing Monocrow. I was just attacked after delivering delicious food to my classmates.” Mikado shrugged.

“Hehe… I was just testing you. But to think you’re that strong… I see now, Mikado Sannoji,” Syobai laughed while out of breath.

“Hey now! You two attacked each other, is that right?” Monocrow asked.

“Eh? He attacked me first. My magic was simply self defense…”

“Hey… I really wanted to kill this guy. You said violence with the intent of murder is okay.”

“Both of you shut up! I can’t believe this! Not only is it your fault again Syobai, but… I expected more from you Mikado! Don’t forget that you’re also a student!” Monocrow was furious, “I should punish both of you but… Keh… I’ll forgive it since you’re both in the wrong! Let’s call it even. Next time however, I will not hesitate to execute you both! Don’t forget that!”

“Ah~! I got scolded by the teacher! How terrible! Don’t worry Syobai. Your wounds aren’t that deep. Of course, I had to hold back, but you won’t die. I don’t wanna have bad blood in the killing game so why don’t we just apologize to each other. So sorry, my dear friend!”

“...Damn monster…” Syobai muttered.

I stood off to the side, watching as Syobai walked onto the boat.

I actually feel kinda bad for him.

Not too bad though.

“Oh? He left. I wonder why he’s so mad… hmm? When did this audience show up? Sorry for that! There was a little fight here.” Mikado said looking over to us.

“Just… who are you? Not only can you spew flames, but you can fly too?”

“You were attached to a wire pulling you up just now, right?”

“Mikado… are you even real?”

“Hmm… everyone let me teach you a lesson on human beings. They’re animals who give up on thinking and only believe what they see as real. But I assure you. Everything you’re seeing and everything you are hearing is very real. You don’t need to think about my magic. Just accept it.” Mikado said.

_What?_

“Ah, jeez. To get scolded by Monocrow. Maybe I got a little too excited. Alright! Even though i’m the Ultimate Wizard, I shall seal my magic from now on.”

“Eh? You can do that?”

“That’s right. I feel as though having such a talent is distancing me from you all as a student.”

“I don’t even know what to say to you anymore…”

“Well, anyways. I hope you all have an amazing day everyone! How’s a walk on the beach sound?” Mikado said before walking onto the ship.

“How are we supposed to react to that…? I think I’m starting to reach my limit…” Setsuka sighed, rubbing her forehead. 

“He’s so strong… Even if we’re all gathered together we might not be able to beat him…” Shinji looked down at the sand.

“Everyone…” Sora started, but it was clear she didn’t know what to say.

“...Oh, everyone’s here.” Kokoro walked over to us.

“Kokoro?” 

“...I heard a lot of commotion. Did something happen?”

“Kokoro, what’s your opinion on a guy like Mikado who kidnapped us all?”

“...You’ve all run out of confidence, right? You don’t know what to do. You’re all scared… Well, try not to think about it. As soon as I saw that guy’s magic I erased it from my cognition. He’s not the kind of guy to answer anyone’s questions.”

“What do we do…”

“Hmm… well, I don’t know if this will lighten the mood but did you all know there is a variety of machinery to be found at the supermarket?”

“Hm…? Would that help us?” Hajime asked.

“I thought about using the parts to make an SOS transmitter or something…”

“Eh?! You can make something like that?!” Iroha gasped.

“Of course. We won’t know until we try, right?” So how’s that? Feeling a bit hopeful?”

“...Kokoro… jeez, I can’t believe even I got depressed before, how embarrassing.” Setsuka laughed.

“Yeah! That’s right! I’m not gonna let something like this overwhelm me!” Shinji said with a big smile.

“Hm? I felt better the second I saw Kokoro’s face.” Yuri sighed.

Okay…

“Alright, even though it’s the third day let’s keep investigating! We’ll find something for sure!” Yuki exclaimed.

“I’ll help Kokoro build the transmitter. I have some experience with machines after all.” Nikei shrugged.

“I don’t need help. I’ll do it myself.”

Kokoro glared at Nikei as if she… knew something about him…

?

“Sis! Let’s look for stuff too, okay?”

“Y-yeah… Okay, let’s do that.”

“Thanks Kokoro. It’s thanks to you everyone is thinking positively now, you’re a real life saver.” Emma said.

“Hmm, I'm not really the type to help others though… it’s not like me, but i’m happy everyone is feeling better.”

With nothing left to do, I decided to head somewhere else.

_**Anywhere that was far away from them.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hajime: eat H E a L t h Y ( y / N ).
> 
> (Y/n): *pouring sprinkles in her mouth* Frick off.


	6. Chapter 1 - In Sheep's Clothing, The Wolf Quietly Smiles - 3

It’s been two days since the incident with Mikado and Syobai. I kept doing my best at avoiding everyone, though that was difficult when it came to going to the diner.

I didn’t dare talk to them, and they didn’t dare talk to me.

**_They know I’m onto them._ **

As hungry as I was, I didn’t feel like getting out of bed.

I felt too mentally drained.

All I've been doing is distancing myself from others, and as weak as I feel admitting it to myself, I crave attention from other people.

_I felt so lonely._

I grumbled to myself as I got out of bed to shower and get dressed.

_Perfection can’t take away the feeling of being alone._

**_What am I doing?_ **

_I’m emotionally killing myself by staying away from everyone else like this._

**_But I can’t put myself in even more danger by being with them._ **

**_No matter what my choice is, I lose._ **

  
  


_ _ _ _ _

  
  


By the time I finished getting dressed I sat on my bed and stared at the door. Waiting until I would hear a knock.

I can’t tell if I’m watching because I fear the idea, or I want it to happen.

Suddenly I noticed a familiar light on my handbook.

A chat notification?

I hesitantly picked up my handbook despite the warm feeling spreading within my chest.

... _Someone wants to talk to me?_

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

  
  


**2 IN CHAT**

**Yuri Kagarin**

**< ( Hey, babe ~ ) am xx:xx**

**< ( I’ve been thinking about you today ) am xx:xx**

**< ( You should smile more like you used to ^v^// ) am xx:xx**

  
  


**(Y/n) (L/n) has left the chat**

**am xx:xx**

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

  
  


I rolled my eyes at Yuri’s message and did not respond.

I decided it would be best to go.

I left my room and made my way towards the diner door.

When I entered I saw everyone was there besides Sora, Kokoro, Syobai, and the twins.

I walked over to the table and grabbed a plate, taking any food that looked good to me. When I finished I went over to my regular seat at one of the empty tables.

As I sat down I saw Sora walk in, “Good morning everyone.”

“Good Morning Ms. Sora!” Mikado said enthusiastically.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been trying to kick him out but he won’t budge.” Hajime sighed.

“Today i’m having breakfast with you all no matter what you try to do!”

“Whatever. There are a few people missing.” Sora said, looking at the empty seats.

“Hibiki and Kanade never showed up and Kokoro is eating alone again…” Yuki said.

“Please don’t ignore me! How ungrateful… Even after I prepared these meals for you all…” Mikado’s mask… was literally crying actual tears.

“We’ve waited long enough. We should probably start eating.”

“W-why are you all so quiet? Now that we’re done with our meals let’s exchange our findings from the investigations!”

“Sure… except there’s nothing new to share.”

“T-that’s true…”

“Today’s… Day five? Ugh… I’m starting to lose my patience.” Setsuka mumbled.

“Agreed. Looks like a murder is right around the corner.” Mikado said.

“Anyways, Wizard, if you wanted us to kill each other, wouldn’t you say your methods are a bit lacking?” Yuri’s words caught everyone's attention.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I’m saying your motives are weak.”

“Y-Yuri? What are you saying?” I whispered, nobody seemed to hear however.

“All we have right now is ‘Kill to escape’. But we don’t have any experience killing people. It’d be too risky to try and murder someone and get away with it.”

“Huhuhu… ‘Motives’ huh? Yes, the previous killing games had plenty. But I no longer need a motive. Motives are now completely unnecessary. This game, the way it’s structured is all I need.”

**_Previous killing games?_ **

“...Well, alright… I don’t mind anything as long as I’m with all the cute ladies!”

“...Come on guys, we better start investigating. We’ll find something… eventually.” Setsuka said as she stood up.

“Yes, you’re right.”

“Can I lend a hand?” Mikado asked.

Like anyone’s gonna let him.

“I know it’s hard but we just have to hold on a little longer, i’m sure.”

“Please!! Somebody notice meeee!!”

Suddenly there was a loud female scream coming from outside the diner. Everyone was silent and in shock.

**_Is someone dying?_ **

“W-what was that?! Was that a scream?”

“I-It was coming from just out front!”

We all raced to the exit of the diner and entered the hallway where we saw a crying Hibiki being comforted by her sister.

“Calm down, sis... “ Kanade whispered.

“N-no… No more! I can’t stay here any longer!” Hibiki screamed, gripping onto her pigtails so tightly it must have hurt, “I wannnnaaaa gooo hoooomeee!!!”

“Hibiki? And Kanade?”

Kanade turned to look at us all, a slightly embarrassed look on her face, “Ah, jeez… I’m really sorry everyone, I know sis is starting to be a bit noisy…

“What’s goin’ on with her?” Hajime asked.

“Sis just had some nightmares, that’s all. I’m trying to calm her down but she’s still scared… we’ll join the investigation as soon as we’re done with our meals! Don’t worry about us!” Kanade said as she led Hibiki into the diner, the rest of us re-entering as well. 

Suddenly we heard the door open again and saw Kokoro enter, “...You’re all here… hmm… I don't really know if this is the right time to say this but… The SOS transmitter is ready to go.”

I couldn’t help but feel excited as I immediately squealed “Really?! Way to go Kokoro!”

“Listen, Sis! Kokoro did something really good!” Kanade said.

“S...SOS…? T-Then we’re getting rescued?” Hibiki wiped the tears from her eyes.

…

“It’s… hard to put into words,” Kokoro began, “It lacks any structural defect but I can’t get a signal. Not even a weak one.”

“That… can’t be…”

“I’ll keep trying but don’t expect much. That’s all I came here to say.”

And just like that, once again, everything seemed to fall apart.

“...I-it’s over… Hibiki’s eyes watered again, “We’re trapped here forever! W-we can never leave! Waaaaaaah!!”

“Calm down sis! It’s okay, we’ll be okay!”

  
  
“Stop crying… It’s hard enough for the rest of us so if you start…”

“Setsuka, do you think you can soothe her?”

“...When Kokoro was talking, I had thought.... I thought… it might be impossible to leave this island after all…”

**_Do you feel that?_ **

“W-what do you mean?! That can’t be true! Big bro! Don’t just stand there, do something!”

**_Those are your tears._ **

“I probably could Yuki but… Maybe we’re just running from reality now… four days pass and we don’t have a single clue. Damn it Shinji Kasai, you butthead!”

**_You’re never getting out of here._ **

**_…_ **

“My precious Hibiki, you wish to escape?”

Everyone’s focus turned to Yuri, who broke the silence.

“O-Of course! I wanna s-see my mommy and daddy!” Hibiki sobbed.

“I can grant your wish.”

“...What?”

Suddenly there was a dark look in Yuri's eyes- one I've never seen before. And with a smile he said,

_“Kill me.”_

…

**_...what?_ **

“Y-Yuri? What did you just say?” Setsuka stuttered.

“Haven’t you all noticed by now? The only way to escape this place is by killing somebody. I didn’t really care about escaping or murder or any of that. I just went with the flow.”

“You don’t care about escaping? Then why did you join our investigation?” Yoruko asked.

“I loved the thought of serving the ladies,” Yuri sighed, “I thought I could live on this island forever just basking in their happiness and beauty. As a man raised like a king, the presence of beautiful classmates looking at me without any prejudice was very meaningful. This is why I can’t stand the fact that all that happiness is fading away. A true man doesn't let a lady shed her tears!”

“E-even so, telling others to k-kill you is totally insane! Don’t you care about your own life?” Yuki asked.

“Tsk… this is why i’m not the same as the rest of you dirty males here. I don’t care if I die! As a lowly man like myself I’m ready to put everything on the line for women! It’s fine if I die. I’m still under 20, but I’ve done enough to be satisfied.”

“But Yuri, if someone kills you and escapes the rest of us will be executed… That includes the other girls… Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Don’t take him so seriously! Yuri’s just losing his mind cause he’s so tired! Right Yuri?!”

“Emma is correct. Only the blackened can escape the island according to the rules.”

“I feel bad about that of course… but, you see… I have a dream. You might not understand it but, there must be a sacrifice for me to attain that dream.” Yuri smiled.

“A-a dream…?”

“Taking this one life I'm given and sacrificing it for a single woman. It’s been my dream since childhood.”

**_What?_ **

“Then when I die for her, she will never forget me. I will live on forever in her heart. Even after death, in the outside world there’s no way a girl would ever grant that wish. Murder is a crime on the outside… but here, that isn’t the case. So please! Any of you ladies! Take my life! Use it as you desire. You can kill me yourself or use me to kill someone else. Whichever girl comes to me will be offered everything. I mean that with utmost sincerity.”

“He-he can’t be serious!”

“No, he is.” Kokoro said, shocking us all, “His desire is beyond obvious. Yuri could not be more serious about this.”

“Y-you… Something is… WRONG with you! We’ve been with someone like this all along?” Setsuka said.

“Hibiki, (Y/n), surely you two are the most desperate of us all! Please, kill me anytime you want!”

I felt startled at my name being mentioned.

_Why was I brought into this?_

“N-no!! Go away!” Hibiki said in fear.

“Stay away from my sister, you psychopath!”

“Hahaha, my apologies. You're right. It’s hard to suddenly kill someone. Well, I know you’re all reaching your limits so when you’re ready to kill, let me know. I’ll be waiting for you… Oh! And if you want me to kill a male I will show you the worst I could ever do within regulation.”

Yuri smiled and then walked out of the diner, leaving the rest of us behind.

I left to go to my own room not too long after.

**_I don’t know what to do anymore._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuri Kagarin: i'M nOt LiKe OtHeR bOyS-


	7. Chapter 1 - In Sheep's Clothing, The Wolf Quietly Smiles - 4

I’m still unsure how to feel about Yuri’s words.

_**He… really wants a woman to kill him?** _

**He… really doesn't care about himself that much?**

_**What is wrong with him?** _

_**Are they all like Yuri?** _

I sat on my bed as I thought about the events that took place during breakfast.

Suddenly I got a chat notification on my handbook.

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

**2 IN CHAT**

  
  


**Yuki Maeda**

**< ( (Y/n) )**

**< ( I know you probably want to be alone but do you have a minute? ) **

**pm xx:x**

  
  


**(Y/n) (L/n)**

**< ( ...Yes. ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Yuki Maeda**

**< ( :0 ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**(Y/n) (L/n)**

**< ( ? ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Yuki Maeda**

**< ( Oh sorry if that was weird, I just didn’t expect you to respond ha )**

**< ( Come to the guest house right now )**

**pm xx:xx**

  
  


**(Y/n) (L/n)**

**< ( ...Okay I’ll see you there ) pm xx:xx**

  
  
  


**Yuki Maeda has left the chat**

**(Y/n) (L/n) has left the chat**

**pm xx:xx**

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

  
  


...I can’t keep avoiding them like this.

_I’m falling apart._

I stood up and left my room to head to the guest house.

Staying away is what makes me seem weak. Being near them will show I’m not scared.

**_There’s no going back now._ **

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


“Ah! (Y/n)! You actually showed up!” Yuki said as I entered the guest house.

Inside stood Yuki, Sora, Yoruko, Setsuka, Hajime and… Mikado?”

I decided to still keep some distance between myself and the other six by standing next to the table furthest away. “...Why are you guys gathered here like this?” I asked, suspicious of what is going on.

“Well, Setsuka is planning to throw a party tonight.” Yoruko said.

...A party?

“Everyone is a bit on edge after this morning, and she thought hosting a party might help,” Hajime said, “So to fix the atmosphere we thought we’d make a surprise party.”

“I know it’s last minute, but I realized something today. I’ve been so obsessed with trying to escape that I totally forgot about something even more important: Surviving.” Setsuka spoke, “Y’know… forming bonds of friendship? I know that sounds lame. When Mikado said it earlier it just got me thinking… This whole situation is complicated so I think it’s important we establish some sort of rapport before we do anymore investigations.”

_They really… want to become friends…?_

“I was a bit skeptical at first, but I think this is for the best. It’s not like we’re going to make any progress in our current conditions.” Yoruko sighed.

“So this is like… making everyone feel better and get closer…?”

  
  
_Maybe this would be a good thing._

_Maybe they actually care._

“I guess… i’ll help… what should we do?”

“Well, we’ve been at this since noon and pretty much have all the basic stuff together, so to start, you can help us set it up.”

“Sure… just tell me what you need me to do… But why isn’t everyone else here? If this is a party for everyone shouldn’t we all prepare it together?”

“Cause it’s a surprise party! That’s why we got a small group together so we can surprise everyone else.” Hajime said.

“I chose people that seemed like they could keep a secret and work hard.” Setsuka smiled.

“I will be playing the role of the surprise chef!!” Mikado said happily.

“...What’s Mikado doing here?” I asked.

“Believe me, I’m not thrilled about it either. But we can’t have a party with boxed lunches… He’s the only one who can cook the fancy food so I swallowed my pride and asked him to help.”

“You haven’t forgotten about our agreement right Setsuka? In exchange for my services I get to stay at breakfast every morning from now on!” Mikado said.

“We had to bribe him a little…”

“What a pushover…”

“Hm?”

“Nothing, get back to work.”

“Start cooking already! You’ve just been standing there doing nothing. What do you think you’re here for?!” Yoruko yelled at Mikado.

“I beg for your patience. I must first gather the ‘Qi’. My masterful dishes are products of my magical powers, I’ll prepare them in my room when I'm suitably prepared.”

“Wait, in your room? So why the hell did you come here?!” Hajime asked.

“And didn’t you say you were going to seal your magic…?”

“Aaaaaanyways, (Y/n) I wanted to ask if you could make some of your fancy desserts for the party, Mikado can cook but his desserts are nothing compared to yours!” Setsuka said, “I’m assuming you must have a kitchen in your dorm since I saw you carrying some baking ingredients in the mart the other day. Would you mind making some sort of treat? The choice is yours!”

“...Okay.” 

“Thank you so much (Y/n)! Now we’ve gotta hurry since we need to be ready by tonight!”

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


It had been about 3 hours since I left the guest house to make the dessert for the party. I had decided to make a tray of red velvet cupcakes with buttercream frosting. Once I finished frosting the last cupcake, I placed them in a container and exited my room to make my way to the guest house again.

Once I entered with the cupcakes and tray, Setsuka clapped “Yes! (Y/n) is here with the dessert! I think we finished right on time. Great job, everyone!”

I walked over to the table on the left side of the room and opened the container to place the cupcakes on it in the shape of a heart.

“Those look delicious (Y/n)!” Yuki said.

I couldn’t help but smile a little at the compliment, “Thanks”.

“Ignoring Mikado, are we invitin’ Syobai and Yuri to the party?” Hajime spoke up.

“Hmm… I’m unsure. Who knows what those two might do.” Setsuka sighed.

“Well, you should probably at least let Yuri come. He might have sounded like a lunatic but I don’t think he’s a bad guy deep down. His whole messed up logic is based on the girls not bein’ happy, so maybe he’ll change with this party if they’re all having fun.”

“Hajime… that’s kinda surprising… I didn’t think anyone would vouch for him considering how much he hates men…” Yuki said.

“H-hey! Don’t get me wrong! I think he’s a freak too! But he’s got a really solid body despite how he looks, anyone who takes care of their health can’t be totally messed up…”

“Alright, I’ll go talk to him. We’ve been together these last few days and he hasn’t seemed like a bad guy.” Setsuka said, “Oh, gosh. The others might get suspicious if we hang out here for too long. Let’s all go our separate ways for now, i’ll call everyone together around dinner time, so just wait until then.”

_ _ _ _ _ 

  
  


It wasn’t too long before the others arrived and the party began. People were eating, dancing, talking, and doing everything one would do at a party.

I quietly stood near the wall, watching the others having fun. 

“What a lovely party with my dear friends! The thrill! The camaraderie!” Mikado smiled.

“Please Syobai, there will be strict discipline should you choose to violate school rules and not participate in this event.” Monocrow said while perched on a shelf.

“Damn it… what kind of bullshit is this?”

“Why are Syobai AND Monocrow here?!” Yoruko yelled.

“Pardon? Were your exact words not that this party was for ‘everyone’? That’s why I invited Monocrow too! I mean, isn’t it exciting to party with your teacher?”

I rolled my eyes and just continued watching everyone until I heard someone say,

“Hey (Y/n), do you want to sit with me?”

I looked over to see Hajime gesturing to the empty seat beside him.

“Uh… wasn’t Shinji sitting there?” I asked after I walked over, “I don’t wanna steal his spot…” I said quietly.

“It’s fine, he got up to dance.”

“...Okay, I guess…”

I sat down and awkwardly stared at the table.

_Why would he want to sit with me…?_

Suddenly there was a plate of food placed in front of me. On it was chicken, apple slices, vegetables, and one Milky Way bar.

I looked over at Hajime who smiled at me, “I saw you didn’t get any food yet so I got some for you… and a candy bar as an apology for takin' yours on the first day- but I don’t regret doing that, grabbing three giant bags of candy is insane!” He said.

_That’s… sweet of him..._

“Thanks” I quietly said as I unwrapped the candy bar. I looked over at my cupcakes, still arranged in a heart across from me and quickly grabbed two, putting one my plate and offering the other to him, “Do you want one of my cupcakes? They’re even better than Mikado’s food.” I said.

He laughed and accepted the cupcake, putting it on his plate, “Thank you.”

I was surprised he took it… Though I doubt he'll actually eat the cupcake, he probably just accepted it to be nice.

...Though he doesn't seem to be the kind of person who’ll just agree to anything so he wouldn’t hurt any feelings.

_...So why did he take it?_

“...Hey Hajime, what’s with your obsession with health? Not that it’s a bad thing, but it’s kind of annoying.” I said.

“I just think it’s important. Being healthy gives you energy, makes you stronger, helps you live a longer life…” Hajime explained multiple reasons… for far too long.

After a few minutes, I sighed, “Okay, I get it, I get it!” I said to shut him up.

“Y’know (Y/n), if you want you can always train with me and Shinji in the mornings, It'd be cool if you joined us.” 

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not a morning person.” I said, taking a bite of my vegetables.

I then noticed the twins arguing. Kanade seemed to hiccup a lot while speaking and her speech was slurred… it’s like she drank a bunch of-

“Alcohol?! Who the heck snuck this in?! Man, what a scoop! “Debauchery and Detention: High School students caught drinking!” Nikei said, quickly writing on his notepad.

“Whaaaaatt?! Alcohol? How’d they know I love a good drink?! Yo! Anybody wanna knock a few back with me?” Shinji asked, immediately grabbing a cup and drinking the whole thing.

“Wait! There wasn’t any alcohol when we set this all up… plus we’re all minors, you know?” Yuki panicked.

“You were out of school for a while right, Shinji? So you must be legal drinking age… Ahhhh whatever! I’m gonna be an adult soon anyways. Cheers!” Setsuka laughed, grabbing a drink of her own.

“It’ll be my honor! Cheers~!”

“You’re already drunk Shinji? Pathetic. You claim to love alcohol, but you are just weak. Move! I am the only one worthy to drink with Setsuka.” Yuri said grabbing TWO fucking drinks.

What the hell is going on?

“Hey (Y/n), are you still hungry?” Hajime asked.

I looked down and saw I had finished my food.

Huh, I didn't even notice.

“O-oh, yeah, sure… I’ll have more chicken…” I said.

“Okay.” Hajime said, but noticed there was no more chicken at the table, so he called over to Yoruko. “Damn, sorry to cut in but we’re out of meat.” 

“Seriously? Okay, hold on i’ll get some more. How are you guys eating so fast?” Yoruko said as she walked over to Mikado.

I watched as multiple people danced- mostly the drunk people. 

It looked… kind of _fun._

I turned over to Hajime and opened my mouth to speak, but immediately closed it.

_**What the hell am I doing? That’ll be so awkward…** _

_Just do it! Make a friend! Even if it’s the asshole who stole your Milky Way bars._

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before tapping his shoulder to get his attention.

Once he looked over at me, I stuttered as I tried to speak, “U-um, Hajime… will you- well you don’t have to say yes- but um… would you maybe like to… I don't know, maybe want to… dance with me?”

He smiled at my question and looked… genuinely excited? 

“I’d love t-”

Before he could finish speaking, Yuki interrupted, “Hajime! Say something to them! Isn’t alcohol bad for your health or something?!” Yuki said, referring to the drunk people.

Hajime looked over and sighed before standing up and saying, “What?! I can’t believe you guys are drinking… And didn’t invite ME! What the hell!”

_**...Is he gonna ditch me?** _

“...Um, what happened to taking care of your body?” I asked, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice.

“A-A little bit of liquor is actually good for the body y’know? Look, it’s just a bad habit I picked up when I was with a bad crowd...We’ll dance together later, okay?” Hajime said, as he turned to walk away and join the others, but I knew that dance probably wouldn’t happen.

I sighed and rested my cheek in the palm of my hand. 

_...Well this sucks._

“Hey! I don’t know where the alcohol came from but drinking underage is illegal, got it?!” Yoruko yelled at them.

“M-Monocrow! Do something! You said you’re our teacher right? You're gonna let your students get drunk?!” Yuki said, still panicking because he’s Yuki.

“Hm? Hehe… I don’t see the harm in it. This is a school trip after all. Deficiency is part of the fun.” Monocrow shrugged… somehow?

“My apologies but… My fellow classmates seem to be having a wonderful time. When may I leave my post to go join them?” Mikado asked.

“Mikado! Three fried chickens, two pork cutlets, and two smoked meats!” Yoruko called over to him, “And grab two drinks on your way here!”

“Of course!! At your service!”

I spent the rest of the party alone.

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


The party had ended by this time. But some of the students had decided to stay a bit longer. 

“Setsuka, are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” Yuki asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Y’know… there’s fiver… err, six others left… I-i’ll follow ya… after round two… hehehehe…”

“Go ahead, (Y/n) and I will make sure these boozehounds get home safely. I've dealt with tons of people like this in my line of work.” Yoruko smiled.

“Syobai and Kokoro disappeared halfway through the party though…” Nikei mumbled.

“I accidentally took a sip out of one of their drinks and I have no idea how adults drink something so yucky…” Iroha said, making a face of disgust.

Well, she’s not wrong.

“Iroha, you look tired. Are you sure you’re gonna be okay carrying Kanade?” Sora asked.

“Oh, I’m fine! I’m just feeling full from eating so much! It’s a little frustrating having these big fluffy things pressed against me, but I'll be okay.”

You mean boobs?

“H-hey Setsuka?” Hibiki said as she walked over, “Uh… I’m feeling much better now so… thank you.” 

Setsuka turned to her and smiled, “Hibiki… You’re such a cute little thing!! C’mere lemme give you a kiss!”

“Gah!! You reek of alcohol! Get away!” Hibiki yelled as she pushed Setsuka, who was trying to give her a kiss on the lips.

“We’ll head back to the Monocruise first. Just a reminder, make sure everyone’s back by 10pm. The Monocruise will be locked after that.” Sora said as she, Yuki, Hibiki, Kanade, Iroha, Nikei, Mikado, and Monocrow left the guest house.

“Leave it to me. I’ll drag them back if I have to.” Yoruko said as she and I re-entered the party room where Setsuka, Shinji, Emma, Hajime, and Yuri were all drinking and chatting.

Since there were still a few cupcakes left- including the one Hajime never ate, I decided it would be a good time to pack them up for later. After I put the last 3 cupcakes in the container, I felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to jump.

“(Y/n), darling! W...why don’t you drink with us?” Yuki asked, clearly as drunk as one could possibly be.

“Um… I’m fine, I don’t drink.” I muttered and walked to the other side of the room.

“Please! I just wanna see you… you happy!”

“I said i’m fine…”

“No yo-you’re not, I see the sadness and disappointment all over your beautiful face~!” Yuri grabbed my hands and got on his knees, “(Y/n)! You are the most perfect woman I've e...ever laid my eyes on.”

_**Perfect.** _

“Y-you are truly my ideal woman!”

_**Stop.** _

“You will never f...find a man who is b-better f-for you than… me.”

_**Stop it.** _

“S-so please… (Y/n) (L/n)...”

_**Don’t say it.** _

_“Kill me.”_

The entire room went silent.

“I-I…”

I couldn’t find my words.

“I beg of you-”

Before anything more could happen, someone pushed Yuri away from me and stood between us.

“Back off Yuri, you’re making her uncomfortable.”

“Step away from h-her you lowly male, on...only I am worthy of (Y/n), not… not you.”

“Just leave her alone you fuckin’ creep.”

Before another word was spoken I ran out of the house, leaving my cupcakes behind. I knew I had to leave.

But what I didn’t know is this fun night would lead to a morning of despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mikado: I made you all food can I party now
> 
> Yoruko: Make more food
> 
> Mikado: haha okay


	8. Chapter 1 - In Sheep's Clothing, The Wolf Quietly Smiles - 5

My eyes shot open at the deafening sound of a bell. The air was as cold as the stone floor I woke up on.

My ears were ringing from the loud sound and my eyes darted to every location. Trying to figure out where I was.

I was at the top of the bell tower with an unconscious Yoruko laying next to me.

I looked over to the bell and my eyes widened as I saw Yuri’s body attached to a rope as he dangled from the bell.

“Y-Yuri?” I stuttered as I got to my feet, but before I could do anything else… Yuri’s body began to plummet from the bell.

“Ah!” My breath quickened and I noticed the thin rope coming from the window and through the hole in the bell- this is what was holding Yuri up.

I can save him. _I’m not letting anyone die today._

Thinking about my possible options, I grabbed the still unconscious Yoruko’s hands, and with the adrenaline rush I easily pulled her towards the window.

I put Yoruko on top of the rope and gripped onto it myself, pulling it with all of my might.

I felt my feet sliding on the stone ground towards the edge, Yoruko’s body doing the same.

Tears flooded my eyes because of the burning sensation on my hands caused by the rope. I tried to keep steady, but I couldn’t hold on any longer.

I pulled again. My knees hurt, my shoulders hurt, my heart hurt.

**_What kind of monster would do this?_ **

I don’t care if he’s crazy, I can’t let him di-

And then I tripped.

I fell onto the stone as the rope slipped out of my hands and then out of Yoruko’s.

I scrambled to grab it again but I couldn’t. As the end of the rope got too far away.

…

…

…

  
  


Thump.

I froze in disbelief. I couldn’t look.

Instead I crawled over to Yoruko and tried to wake her up. “Y-Yoruko? H-hey Yoruko!” I shook her until I heard a female voice.

“(Y/n)? Yoruko?”

I looked up to see Sora and Yuki standing at the top of the stairs.

“(Y/n)?! And Yoruko?! W-what are you…?! Why?!” Yuki stuttered.

Yoruko’s eyes fluttered open as she finally came to, “...Ugh… my head… What’s going on? ...Huh? Yuki?! Sora?! And (Y/n)?! Where did you guys…”

“What’s going on?! Why are you two here?” Yuki asked.

I was now able to see the look of fear and heartbreak on their faces. They knew Yuri was dead too.

“...Did you…” Yuki began, looking directly at me. 

“Huh…? What are you guys talking about? And why are you so pale?” Yoruko asked the three of us.

“...Look at the bottom of the tower. Below the railing.” Sora said.

I turned the other direction as Yoruko did just that.

  
  


**...**

“What? Is there something…?”

**…**

“Huh…? What’s that?”

**…**

“Aaaaaaaah!!! B-blood?! Blood!”

**...**

“Y-Yuri…?! T-that’s Yuri down there… that’s… oh my…”

And then something I hoped I would never hear sounded over the speakers.

_“A body has been discovered! Everyone please gather at the bell tower!”_

“A body discovery announcement…? I’m so confused… What’s happening?” Yoruko said, still in shock.

“It’s… it’s you…”

I looked over at Yuki who pointed directly at me.

“(Y/n)! You killed him didn’t you?!”

“N-no, I-”

“What are you talking about?! I don’t even know what’s going on!” Yoruko shouted.

“All three of you need to calm down. Monocrow told us to gather so we better go.” Sora said making her way down the stairs, the three of us following behind.

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


After about five minutes of walking we made it to the first floor of the bell tower where everyone else was… along with Yuri’s bloody corpse in the center.

I closed my eyes and turned away. I couldn’t bear to look at what I could have prevented.

**_I’m not perfect. I’m a failure._ **

“...How could this…?”

“Eeeeeeek! How?! Y-Yuri…!”

“Wha...Wha...That’s… Yuri? H-He was partying just fine last night…”

“Aww… So Yuri bites the dust, huh? Well, he did ask for it… literally. When somebody died I was totally gonna rub it in his face like ‘See? Murders can occur without a motive!’ But alas… It was thou who had gone! Ah well.”

“You piece of… How can you say something like that right now?!”

“Ohoho, man… Kid’s a bloody rag. Head, body and all… even his bones must have turned to dust.”

After a few more moments I opened my eyes to see Monocrow before us all, but my mind could barely process what was being said by everyone.

“Now, now! Is everyone here? As this is the _first_ murder, there are a few things that need to be cleared up!”

  
  
“F-first…? You’re making it sound like there’s going to be more…”

“R-right… and ‘murder’...? Does that mean someone killed Yuri? T-that can’t be… we’re the only ones on this island and that would mean…”

“That's right! Yuri Kagarin was killed by one of you!”

**_I knew they were killers._ **

“Seeing a murder really has occurred, being hopeful about ‘Not killing’ is just ignoring reality. Putting aside the sorrow of losing Yuri, this is where the fun actually starts. You’re all gonna be very busy soon."

“Busy…? What do you mean?”

“He means we need to prepare for the class trial.” Kokoro said.

“Ding, ding, ding! Correct. You’re a smart one Kokoro. The main event of the killing school trip… The class trial!” Mikado cheered.

“Yes, as Kokoro said you will have to find the blackened who killed Yuri through the class trial,” Monocrow said, “The game has already begun. The fight to the death between the spotless and the blackened. Will the blackened escape the island? Will the spotless expose them? Which side shall fall? I’ll give you plenty of time to investigate. Try to find evidence about the murder so you can expose the blackened in the trial! Mwahahaha!!”

“There’s no way… I can do that… not a chance… someone is dead… what are we supposed to…?”

“No sis, we have to. Or would you rather have everyone be executed.”

“What…?”

“...It’s as Kanade says… we have to do this…” Setsuka put her hand on Hibiki’s shoulder.

“Setsuka…”

“There’s no escaping this reality. You all know the rules of the class trial, right? If we don’t find the killer, everyone will be executed… I had a bad feeling… It's why I threw the party… I wanted to avoid all this… I’m sorry it ended like this… it’s all my fault.”

**_No it’s not. It’s mine. I should have saved him._ **

“So everyone dies if we don’t find the culprit huh? How tacky.” Nikei sighed.

“One of us… so we’re all suspects…?” Hajime said, looking around the group.

“Suspecting my friends… I’ve only met all of you a few days ago but you all feel like such good friends of mine…” Shinji said.

“It’s scary and it’s awful… but we have to do this.”

“To survive.”

…

“Fufufu… good, it looks like you’re prepared.” Monocrow said, “To begin, I will bestow upon you all the Monocrow file!”

“M-Monocrow file? What’s that…?” I stuttered.

“Although there’s a lot of you, you’re all high school students in the end. Investigating a murder won’t be easy for all of you. So this file contains a bit of information. Hoping this will somehow aid you I, as the conductor, bid you farewell for now. I hope you succeed.” Monocrow then left the tower.

“...What a useless time to be thoughtful.” Yoruko sighed.

“No, based on Monocrow’s description on the file the information should help us.” Setsuka stated.

“Um, can I ask you something?” Kanade spoke up.

“Yes? What is it Kanade?”

“What measures of securing the crime scene should we take? We’re going to need to keep the culprit from stealing clues!”

“Securing the crime scene…?” Nikei raised an eyebrow.

“...Kanade makes a good point. In the outside world the police take control of a crime scene.” Kokoro said.

“Ah… I see. It would be bad if the culprit could just remove evidence at will…”

“...Leave it to me. I’ve got the strength for it. I’ll keep this place guarded.” Hajime said to the group.

“Alright… then we’ll leave the crime scene to Hajime while the rest of us investigate.”

“Wait, we need another person too.” Kanade said, stopping everyone from leaving.

“Why?”

“What are we gonna do if _Hajime is the culprit_? He’ll be able to steal evidence while he guards the crime scene!”

“What? You think _i’m the culprit_?”

“She has a point. Until the class trial we’re all suspects.”

“I see… so we need two people to guard the crime scene but also watch over each other…”

“Keeping watch… I know this is a dire situation but it’s like we don’t trust each other…”

“...As a man I don’t want to suspect my friends, but… I’ll do it. Securing the crime scene.” Shinji said, “I’m not god with my head so I won’t be much help investigating anyways. Thankfully, I've got some strength like Hajime does.”

“Ah… well, that’ll do. I know I can trust Shinji.” Hajime said.

“Wait… one more person.”

“W-wait, Kanade, do we really need 3 people securing the crime scene?” Yuki asked.

“Hajime and Shinji are close right? Then we can’t ignore the possibility of an accomplice!”

“K-Kanade…? Are you suspecting us?” Shinji stuttered.

“Suspecting you? Of course I am. You can’t trust anyone in a situation like this. Though I hate to admit it. Not even Hibiki can be trusted.”

“...I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll secure the crime scene too.” Nikei said with a sigh.

“Perfect!”

There was silence for a long moment until Kokoro spoke up. “...Wait, you’re all still just standing there? Syobai and Mikado are already investigating… You guys should start soon as well. We don’t know how much time we have left.”

“Right… if all the stuff about securing the crime scene is settled, the rest of us should start investigating.”

“...Ah, but before that everyone… what do you think of this murder?” Kokoro asked, looking at us all.

“W-what do you mean…? A person… _one of our classmates_ … _is dead_ … **_murdered…_** ” I whispered as I stared at the floor.

“Hm…”

“But, why did you ask that?” Iroha looked at Kokoro confused.

“It doesn't matter. We should start investigating.”

“What’s up with her? She just looked at our faces and left.” Hajime crossed his arms.

“Now, everyone. There's no time to lose. Let’s start investigating.” Setsuka said.

And with that, the investigation began.

_ _ _ _ _

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

_I need to stop shaking, I need to calm down._

_I can’t fall apart right now._

_**I didn’t save Yuri.** _

_But I will make sure the killer will be caught._

I then opened the Monocrow file and read it to myself.

** \- MONOCROW FILE - **

**- The victim is Yuri Kagarin. **

**-** **The estimated time of death is 7:30am.**

**-** **The dead body was discovered in the bell tower, on the first floor.**

**-** **His left calf is pierced by a hook, and he has sharp cuts all over his body. He also has a pierced wound on his right calf.** **Other than that, bones in his neck, spine, right knee and left arm are broken.**

**-** **The estimated cause of death is blood loss and trauma from bruises all over his body.**

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

_**This is real.** _

_**This is reality.** _

_**HURRY UP AND INVESTIGATE ALREADY.** _

_They are relying on you._

I handed the Monocrow file to Sora and started my investigation. 

_I need to know what happened._

The first thing I was was a liquid on the floor… it was definitely not water…

Is that… some sort of _anesthetic?_

“Oh, you noticed it too huh?”

I saw Kanade standing before me, “It’s liquid anesthetic- a kind they use for major surgeries! It’s available in the infirmary.”

_..._

“Yeah, yeah I know… but how did you know that? The major surgery thing that is...” I asked.

“Oh, I just watch a lot of medical dramas!”

“...Yeah… I watch them too…” 

I decided to investigate some other things.

**_...Like Yuri’s body…_ **

I made my way towards the corpse before I stumbled over… wires?

Why were there sharp wires on the floor? Under Yuri too...

Wait… when I was walking down stairs… there were those torn wires that were taped to the walls right? Were they originally attached to the walls? Did Yuri break them when he fell? Why were they set up in the first place?

_This seems odd…_

I took a deep breath before walking towards the middle of the room where Yuri’s bloody and disfigured body lay motionless on the ground.

_...Do it for Yuri._

I walked to the left side and crouched down to investigate.

I knew the broken bones were from the fall, so I ignored them and focused on everything else.

He had bloody cuts all over his body, a hook in his left calf and a wound in the right.

Clearly his cuts were not the cause of death, but were they possibly a distraction?

No, that’s unnecessary, if it was a trick it would be a pointless one… the cuts had to have been caused by the wires which were once attached to the walls. That must be the reason there are so many cuts, but not deep ones. 

But the reason for the wires still makes little sense…

I then checked the wounds in Yuri’s calves- one of them had a hook embedded deep into it. The hook was attached to a rope, which clearly was the rope that pulled him up. But the other end of the rope was cut… perhaps it was originally attached to something too?

I looked at the wound in Yuri’s right calf. How strange that this was here when it clearly had no purpose at all, what could be the reason for the culprit to give him this wound… unless…

I looked at the shape of the wound with the hook, and then the wound on the right calf. The shape and size of both wounds are clearly the same. The right calf must have had a hook in it at some point… but there are no other hooks in sight…

I stood up and decided to check somewhere else when…

“Hey, (Y/n)?”

I turned around to see Hajime standing a couple of feet away from me, guarding the crime scene.

...Ugh. 

“What is it? I have an investigation to get back to.” I said as I crossed my arms.

“Look, i’m sorry about not dancing with you at the party last night. Trust me when I say that I really wanted to, but I-”

“-Wanted to do something that was actually fun? I totally get it, getting drunk with your friends is much funner than dancing with some dumb girl you barely know.” I said as I looked at the floor.

“But I wanted to get to know you, I even asked Shinji to get up so you and I could spend some time together.” He said.

“Uh huh, but then you decided you didn’t like me after all so you ditched me, got it.”

I turned around and walked outside before he said anything else.

_I can’t think about stupid things right now, I need to keep investigating._

_**He’s already wasted enough of my time.** _

Once I walked outside I saw Setsuka looking at something in the bushes.

“What are you looking at, Setsuka? Did you find something?”

“Yeah, look at this.” Setsuka pulled something out of the bush. It was… a lifejacket?

“Is that a lifejacket?”

“Mhm… I found it in this bush, I thought it was strange that something like this would just be left here since the bell tower isn’t very close to the water. And there's a hook in it too.”

I took the lifejacket from her hands and looked at the hook embedded in the jacket… it was attached to a rope… but it was cut.

I thought back to the rope attached to Yuri and how the end was cut too.

_Is it possible that the rope attached to Yuri was attached to the lifejacket at some point as well?_

“Thanks for showing me this Setsuka, I have a feeling this could be really important!” I said.

“No problem (Y/n)!” She said and leaned down to… pat me on the head?

Who does she think I am? Hibiki?

“Okay… well, i’ll be going now…” I said and walked away.

Is that all there is to investigate?

_No… there must be more…_

...

_Yuri stayed late at the party… Does the party have anything to do with the case?_

I made my way to the guest house and walked into the room where the party took place, Yoruko was there already.

“Find anything?” I asked.

“No… but I have a feeling the party must be involved…” Yoruko replied.

I hummed in response and looked around the tables.

_There must be something here we missed… something…_

I had the urge to look at the drinks that were still on the far side of the left table. When I looked inside one of the half empty bottles I saw there was just…

...Is that water? The label on the bottle clearly says it’s alcohol but…

I raised an eyebrow and took a sip to confirm.

_Yeah. Water._

_This could be important…_

I heard the door open and saw Sora enter the room and walk over to Yoruko and I.

“Oh… hey, Sora.” I said.

“What are you both doing all the way over here?” Sora asked us.

“Just investigating.” I sighed, looking at the bottle of ‘Alcohol’ in my hands.

“I see… Did you find anything here?”

“Well… we were thinking… the murder happened after the night of the party… so… maybe the party has something to do with the case…” Yoruko said.

“Ah, that’s why I came out here as well.”

“...Sora, (Y/n), when do you think the culprit decided to kill Yuri?” Yoruko asked.

“By ‘when’ you mean…?” I was confused.

“I mean, there were 7 people that decided to stay a little later yesterday, including (Y/n) and I… actually there was a time when Yuri was alone… maybe that’s when the culprit took their chance…”

“So Yuri was alone last night? Yoruko, do you think you could explain in detail what happened last night?”

“Well… after we sent you away, we kept drinking and partying. Of course, (Y/n) and I weren’t drinking but the others were drinking non-stop… they were fully drunk. At some point Yuri did his whole ‘Kill me’ speech to (Y/n) again until Hajime stopped him and (y/n) kind of disappeared. And of course eventually when night time came we all headed back too but… Yuri said he needed to go to the bathroom and that we should leave without him.” Yoruko explained.

“So you left him alone?! What were you thinking?”

“W-wait he wasn’t completely alone… we were all together, but if we hadn’t gone back before night time we would have all been locked out. To be honest, things were so out of control with me trying to take care of the drunk people that I don’t remember some details…” Yoruko sighed, “Someone definitely went with him but I can’t quite recall who it was…”

“So you didn’t check if he actually returned to the Monocruise, right?” I asked.

  
“Yeah, i’m not sure. I don’t even know if he made it back… I didn’t expect that things would go this way at the time… I was being careless… I guess asking the other students if they saw Yuri go to the ship last night might be a good idea.”

“Anyways, Yuri was definitely alive up until we all drank yesterday so maybe that will help…”

Before anything else could be said, we heard a loud ring come from the speakers.

_"I’m glad everyone is investigating as they should be. Unfortunately, though. The investigation period is officially over. The class trial will now begin so everyone should go to the class trial entrance on the 1st floor of the Monocruise!”_

_**It was time for the class trial.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuri: *dies*
> 
> Everyone: oh heck.


	9. Chapter 1 - Class Trial - 1

“You’re all here…”

Everyone turned to look at the door as Sora entered the red and gold room we all stood in.

“You’re late, Sora. Last place again.”

“I’m late? Oh… sorry about that.”

I looked down at the floor.

_The class trial…_

_Will soon begin_ …

“Either we expose the culprit or we all die,” Setsuka said “Those are the only two outcomes. If we mess up. We’re all dead.”

**_Dead._ **

“What happened to us…? Just yesterday we were partying… How did it come to this…”

“We have no time to think about that. If we give up here, we won’t be able to survive.”

...

“Wait, is this the class trial room? It’s not at all like I imagined it to be…” Emma said.

“No, no… This is only the entrance to the class trial room. See that elevator? We’ll be taking that down to the class trial room.” Mikado said, pointing to the old looking elevator- which was also the only thing in the room that isn’t red or gold.

“Take us down?! Down where? Aren't we on a cruise ship?”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, let's get this over with.” Syobai said.

“You’re pretty damn laid back considering all our lives are in danger…” Hajime said as he crossed his arms.

_“Sorry to keep you all waiting! Everyone seems to have gathered, so let us begin!_ _The exciting, the extreme, the class trial! Everyone! Come aboard the elevator in front of you and come to the trial grounds! There’s no running from the class trial, so take what you’ve gathered during the investigation… And do your best to win! FufufufuHAHAHAHA!”_

“S-so we’re really doing this…”

“I don’t wanna go down…”

“Are we going to be able to find the culprit…? It’ll be really bad if we can’t…”

…

“RAAAAAAGGGGH! You know what?! Bring it on! It’s not like we can escape this anyways!”

“It’s like big bro says! If we put our heads together and discuss this, we will find the culprit!”

“The culprit who killed Yuri… Let’s find them, no matter what.”

“We can’t run away… we need to find this killer.”

All of us stepped into the elevator. The doors immediately closed behind us, and the elevator began moving down without anyone pressing a button.

It was dead silent, not a single word spoken until…

I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around to see Yoruko.

“Hey, (Y/n), everything is gonna be okay.”

  
  


**_...She cares…?_ **

  
  


“We’ll get through this together, I’m here for you.”

  
  


_She cares._

  
  


“Thank you…” I said.

  
  


She then held my hand as we waited for the elevator to stop.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _

  
  


Soon the 15 of us stood within a fancy looking room that was…

Big surprise- Red and gold.

“W-what is this place…?”

“ _Fufu… You’re finally here.”_

Near the circle of podiums in the center of the room, we looked over to see Monocrow perched on a fancy chair.

Okay…?

“Welcome to the most advanced facility of the Monocruise! The class trial grounds!”

“Oho! I like what you’ve done with the place! Very impressive.” Mikado’s mask smiled.

“I assume you’re all ready. I also assume you all know there is no running from this. Let’s begin! Everyone! Go to the podiums with your names on them!”

Everyone walked over to their podiums- mine was between Setsuka and Syobai.

“Good, good. Your faces all tell me you are serious about this… Now let us begin! The first class trial of the Utsuroshima killing school trip!”

  
  


**_Various thoughts intertwine, and the curtains finally open._ **

**_A trial of life and death._ **

**_A lie of life and death._ **

**_A betrayal of life and death._ **

**_The truth of life and death._ **

**_The excuse of life and death._ **

**_The trust of life and death._ **

**_A matter of life and death…_ **

**_The class trial._ **

  
  


“Allow me to explain the rules of the class trial.” Monocrow said, “The results of this trial are decided purely by your votes. If you manage to identify the blackened, they alone will be executed. Get it wrong however… Everyone will be executed and the blackened will be able to escape.”

_This is real…_

_Today, I either live to see another day._

**_Or today is the last day I'll ever live._ **

  
  


“Now then, first and foremost…”

“Hold on Monocrow! There’s something I want to ask first!” Kanade interrupted.

“Oh hoh? And what might that be?”

“Can there be an _accomplice_ in any of these cases?”

“That’s a good question. Whether or not there can be an accomplice will be a huge factor in deciding who the culprit might be.” Setsuka said.

“Good question indeed. I suppose I didn’t specifically address that in the rules. To be blunt, there can be accomplices. But only in theory. Only one person actually gets to leave the island in the end.”

“Of course, the rules even say that only the first murder counts. Should there be more. In other words… an accomplice would not benefit if there are two or more people involved in a case.” Kokoro said.

“They would gain nothing from assisting the culprit, after all. Even if they were to succeed they wouldn’t be allowed to leave with the culprit. And more importantly, they would face the same execution as the rest of us.” Mikado explained.

“He is correct.”

“Hey! What’s the deal with that?!”

  
  
I looked across the trial room to see what Yoruko was pointing at… there was a framed picture of Yuri above an empty seat. It had blood colored X across his face.

**_...Why?_ **

**_Why would you do this?_ **

“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it. That would have been Yuri’s seat and it felt wrong to just leave it empty you know?”

“You’ve got an awful sense of humor…” Hajime said to Monocrow.

“Right, this place is very unpleasant, I'd like to leave as soon as possible.”

“It might be the last place you ever see if we don’t find the culprit.” Syobai said with an annoyed tone.

**_Please stop._ **

**_Don’t break me more._ **

“Don’t say such horrible things!”

“...Wait, everyone. Do you mind if I say something before we begin?” Kokoro spoke up.

“Huh? What is it, Kokoro?”

“I’ve identified who the culprit is.”

**_Tell me._ **

“W-what?! A-are you serious?!” Shinji… shouted.

**_Tell me._ **

**_Tell me who ended a life I tried to save._ **

“...I know exactly who the culprit is and how it happened. I’d like to give them a chance to speak up. Give yourself up now. At least then, we’ll be able to accept you regret it. You’ll be found out anyways, it’s better to confess than have it pried out of you.”

…

“...Nobody is confessing.”

“No shit. What kind of idiot would tell the truth? They’d be sentencing themselves to death.” Syobai scoffed.

“...Alright, then we’ll do this the hard way.”

“So, who’s the culprit, Kokoro?”

**_Tell me._ **

“...I can’t tell you that just yet. ...I have a feeling they want to hear how it happened too.”

**_…?_ **

“W-what?! Are you screwing around? Just tell us who it is so we can end this! It’s like Sora said… I don’t wanna be here any longer than I have to be…” Hibiki sighed.

“Would you even be able to comprehend it if I told you? ...I’d be lucky if anyone even believed me. I can already tell you are suspecting me… This is the class trial where our lives are on the line… we need to find the culprit… figure out as much as you can by yourselves. I’ll help out when I can.”

“...Let’s just start already… I don’t want to be in the same room as some heartless… murderer…” I said.

**_Who killed him?_ **

“May I have a brief moment to speak to everyone?” Mikado spoke up, “I imagine some of you suspect me because I am the mastermind… Your opinions are inconsequential, but please for all our sake… Treat me just like another student in this class trial. Death awaits us if we reach the wrong conclusion. I don’t wanna die either, you know?”

“That’s exactly what the culprit would say!” Shinji pointed at him.

… -_-

“Seriously? This is a prime example of what you guys shouldn't be doing…”

“Shinji, I’m sorry, but he’s right. If Mikado wanted to act like the mastermind in this he had plenty of chances to do that before. Everyone is a suspect, including Mikado and I. The purpose of this discussion is to narrow down that list.” Sora said.

“So can we start now?”

“Where do we even start?”

“...If you don’t know, try starting with what we know about the case.” Kokoro said.

“To begin, Yuri died at 7:30, thirty minutes after the morning announcement…”

“I heard Sora and Yuki were together at the scene?”

“Yes, just this morning. Yuri contacted me… When I saw Yuri hooked to a rope. He looked badly injured… And before I could do anything he got dragged up… he fell back down a bit later.”

“Yuri had cuts all over his body… some sort of sharp object must have been the murder weapon-”

“Iroha that’s wrong. Yuri couldn’t have been killed by a sharp object.” Sora interrupted.

“Yeah, if you looked at the Monocrow file it clearly states the cause of death. Yuri died from blood loss trauma from bruises all over his body! Or if you can’t understand that, his death was from falling.” I agreed.

“O-oh… I see there were just so many cuts I overlooked it…”

“...Then what caused all those cuts?” Hajime asked.

“The cuts were caused by the sharp wires.” I said.

“Wires?”

“Yeah, if any of you investigated the staircase you could see the torn wires that were attached to the wall. When the wires were still intact, they left cuts all over Yuri when he was pulled up. That’s why there were those wires all over the crime scene, when they cut him, they fell with him. Since Yuri fell very fast, there were many cuts, but they were not deep enough to kill him.”

“Oh… so that’s how he got all those cuts.” Iroha nodded.

“You didn’t even check the Monocrow file? You call that investigating?” Syobai raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry!”

“Hey! It was an honest mistake! Don’t pick on her!”

“How am I supposed to leave my life up to you guys if you make such idiotic mistakes?”

“Wait, what do you mean leave your life to us?” I asked Syobai.

“Everyone’s lives depend on the outcome of this trial, right? Not just mine, so if you all work hard to weed out the culprit, I can just relax and save my energy.”

“So you’re just gonna leech off our hard work?!”

“If I have to do something, I will. I just don’t like wasting time on pointless shit. You were gonna work hard to save your own hides in the first place. This outcome works out great in the end for all of us.” Syobai shrugged.

“You are seriously a degenerate ruffian!! Have you ever heard of the concept of helping someone?!”

“Now, now, everyone, we won’t accomplish anything if we stay distracted by Syobai. Let’s carry on, shall we?” Mikado said, changing the subject.

“...So if the culprit planned to kill Yuri by dropping him, why install the wires?”

“We’ll have to discuss this more…”

“Alright, can everyone tell me what they were doing at the time of Yuri’s death?” Setsuka asked us all.

“It’s like you said earlier, Sora and I saw Yuri’s death with our own eyes. We were together, so does that count as our alibi?” Yuki asked.

“...I was alone in my room.” Kokoro said.

“Do I really need to tell you? I was just wandering around.” Syobai stated.

“Yuri died at 7:30, so everyone excluding Sora, Yuki, Kokoro, and Syobai, should have been in the diner.”

“Actually Yoruko and (Y/n) weren’t there.” Hajime said.

…

“(Y/n), Yoruko, what were you two doing at the time.”

“I… um…”

...What do I say…?

…

Yoruko spoke for me, “We were at the bell tower too, we met with Sora and Yuki.”

“The bell tower? But that’s the scene of the crime isn’t it? Sora and Yuki were there because of the message, what were you two there for?” Kanade asked.

“What… what were we there for…?”

“Kanade, just to be noted for later, Yoruko and (Y/n) might as well have seen the murder with us. You heard the body announcement right? It only goes off when 3 people have seen a body. Sora and I saw it first, then Yoruko and (Y/n) saw a bit later.” Yuki said.

“Hold on Yuki, you said Yuri was hoisted by a rope, correct?” Mikado asked.

“What? Oh, yeah.”

“Then isn’t it obvious you two saw the killer?”

…

“If Yuri was being hoisted by a rope from above, then surely the witnesses pursued hoping to find the culprit right?”

“I see… the only way to go down the tower is the staircase… when Sora and Yuki went up all they saw was… (Y/n) and Yoruko...

“That means either Yoruko or (Y/n) is the culprit!” Kanade said enthusiastically.

…

“What?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? Emma said the only way to climb up the tower is by going up the stairs. You two don’t have a good excuse like Sora and Yuki, and you, (Y/n) have looked worried from the start. It’s clear to everyone that one of you is the culprit, wouldn’t you agree sis?” Kanade smirked.

…

“Huh? But didn’t Yuki say they were witnesses?”

“Sis, just think about it! (Y/n) and Yoruko don’t have alibis and had no reason to be up there!”

“I-I guess when you put it like that they do sound a little suspicious…”

“Yoruko, (Y/n), why don’t you two tell us why you were at the bell tower? Sora and Yuki were there because they got a message from Yuri. Give us a reason why and we won’t have to suspect you guys.” Setsuka said, looking at us.

But...

“...We… we don’t know why we were there…” I muttered.

**_Pathetic._ **

“What?! Are you serious?!”

“Their situation seems complicated… I thought one of them must be the culprit at first… but…”

“Yoruko, (Y/n), just take it slow and tell us your side of the story.”

Yoruko sighed and began her explanation, “Well... I went outside as soon as the Monocruise doors opened… So I could start my morning investigation before breakfast began. But then someone attacked me from behind and I lost consciousness… When I woke up I was at the top of the bell tower with Sora, Yuki, and (Y/n).”

“Hold on, the way you worded that… as (Y/n) awake when you woke up?”

“Oh yeah, when Sora and I made it upstairs, we saw Yoruko unconscious, but (Y/n) was awake…” Yuki said.

“Is this true (Y/n)?”

“I…”

“So if (Y/n) was the only one conscious at the top of the tower, clearly she’s the culprit. She must have attacked Yoruko.” Kanade said.

What? Are they serious? They really think that I killed Yuri?

“No…! I-I didn’t! I wouldn’t-! I woke up there too! I swear…!”

**_What do I do?_ **

**_Why me?_ **

“Can you tell us your side of the story then?”

I didn't now what to say. I have a reason, but it'll just make them think I'm even more suspicious.

“I… well, I had forgotten my cupcakes at the guest house last night and wanted to get them back… on my way there I was also attacked… That’s all I remember…”

**_Why am I so useless?_ **

“Do you have any proof? Like, did someone see you leave early?”

“Huh? N-no… nobody saw me…”

“Wait no, Shinji you saw Yoruko this morning, didn’t you? Did you see (Y/n) by any chance too?” Sora asked.

?

“O-oh me? ...Yeah, y-yeah a I definitely saw Yoruko leave this morning. And I think I saw (Y/n) leave a few minutes after.”

“You’re all up so early, what do you guys even do?” 

“Hajime and I go jogging every morning, you know? I woke up early so I was waiting for him in the corridor, Hajime was late because he needed to use the washroom, and I saw Yoruko and (Y/n) leave as soon as the Monocruise doors opened.” Shinji said.

“S-See? I’m not lying…”

“We’ve proven the fact you left the ship early, however, can we be sure you told us the truth concerning why you went out early?”

“Huh?”

“Doesn't the fact that you left early actually make you more suspicious? The murder did happen in the morning you know, and the person who murdered Yuri was certainly not aboard the Monocruise or unconscious this morning.” Mikado said.

“So… (Y/n) really is the culprit after all…?” Hajime asked.

I never expected that just being accused would make me feel so helpless and scared.

“H-Hey! Why is everyone accusing me? I told you already! I don’t know why I was there, I lost consciousness as soon as I left, just like Yoruko!” I said.

**_Why me?_ **

“Assuming (Y/n) is telling the truth, can we assume the culprit attacked both her and Yoruko, then moved them to the bell tower to frame them?” Yuki askek

“But then there would be no explanation as to how Yuri was pulled up…”

“Maybe the culprit was hiding somewhere on top of the tower?”

“No, there’s nothing up there to hide behind. It would be very difficult to hide up there.”

“If (Y/n) can’t explain herself, we just have to assume she’s the culprit.”

**_Why me?_ **

"W-wait… that’s not true… I’m not…"

**_Why me?_ ** ****

**_What have I done to deserve this?_ **

**_Do they really think I'd kill?_ **

“Don’t jump to conclusions, (Y/n) isn’t lying. Listen to her voice, she’s telling the truth.” Kokoro said, “You’re approaching the possibility that (Y/n) may be the culprit all wrong. Look at the bigger picture instead of just focusing on her. Such as… Why was Yuri killed?”

“Speaking of which, didn’t Yuri lock himself in his room after telling the girls to kill him? It would be awfully difficult to drag him out of his room.” Nikei brought up.

“Hardly, if a girl came to him he’d leave in a heartbeat.” Hajime said.

“So the culprit is a girl?”

“So doesn't it point to (Y/n) anyways? Not to mention she seemed to be Yuri’s favorite…”

“I-i’m telling you it’s not me-!”

“Wait, everyone,” Sora said, “If the culprit was a man, wouldn’t it make the crime that muchmore ingenious? The obvious answer would be: ‘The culprit is a girl’... but if it were a man… They’d be able to exclude themselves from the list of suspects for that reason.”

“But Yuri hates being spoken to by another guy, there is no way a man could have gotten him out of his room.”

“But he wasn’t in his room the entire time, he went to the party last night- he even drank late into the night as well, right Yoruko?”

“Oh yeah, he was there.”

“So if someone attacked Yuri at the party… even a man could’ve done it!”

“Yes, that is true.” Kokoro smiled.

“If Sora is right then a man really could have attacked Yuri… but that’s still no reason to rule girls out as potential culprits…” Kanade pointed out.

“Yeah, but I’m curious about something. The party was last night but Yuri died this morning. If the culprit attacked after the party, wouldn’t that mean the culprit was inside the Monocruise during night time? The Monocruise doors lock after 10 pm.” Nikei said.

...That’s true...

“That’s true… If the party happened last night, but the murder happened this morning… then there’s a huge time gap missing.”

“So the question is, if someone attacked Yuri after the party… What did they do until morning?” Setsuka said.

“Didn’t all the people who stayed late to drink return to the Monocruise before 10pm?”

“I-I don’t remember…”

“It’s not surprising, (Y/n) and I were the only sober ones there, well, until (Y/n) left. Anyways… Everyone got back but Yuri needed to use the washroom so he said he’d be late.” Yoruko explained.

“I get it! That’s when someone kidnapped him!”

“No, that doesn’t make sense, the murder happened at the bell tower this morning. The culprit would have been locked in the Monocruise and unable to set up their murder.”

“You're assuming things again…” Kokoro sighed, “There is no rule that says you have to be inside the Monocruise during night time.”

“What…? But the rules…”

“State that the Monocruise doors close at 10 pm, and that sleeping outside the dorms is not allowed, that’s all. If the culprit never boarded the Monocruise, they would be free to roam the island after the doors locked. And as long as they never fell asleep, they wouldn’t be breaking any rules.”

“Being outside of the Monocruise at night isn’t a violation?! Is that true?!”

“...Yes, I’ve done it before. I wondered what would happen so I slept all day and stayed out all night… and nothing happened. The doors opened to the Monocruise in the morning and I was able to board.”

“If what Kokoro is saying is true, then it’s possible that Yuri didn’t even board the Monocruise last night. According to Yoruko, she doesn't know if Yuri made it back or not. So isn’t it possible that the culprit attacked Yuri and left him in the bell tower until morning?” Sora mentioned.

“If the theory is true, then the culprit must have been someone who stayed late to drink last night! What do you think (Y/n)? You were one of the people who stayed behind, right?” Kanade asked.

**_Why won't they stop going after me?_ **

**_What did I do wrong?_ **

‘W-well, that’s true… but- but it’s not me! I left earlier than the others and boarded the Monocruise!”

“About that… none of us were really sober, so I don’t think any of us remember that…” Setsuka awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

“H-huh…?”

“Indeed, none of them recall a thing. Speaking of which, I don’t remember seeing so much as a drop of alcohol when setting up. And yet, there was alcohol around the beverages when the party started. I believe this is no coincidence.” Mikado said

“Are you saying the culprit brought the alcohol to the party to get everyone drunk and fog their memory of what happened after the party?”

“Wait, Is it possible the culprit committed murder on impulse because of their intoxicated state?” Iroha asked.

“No, you can tell by looking at the crime scene that they put a great deal of thought into it. You can’t pull that off intoxicated.” Kokoro responded.

“If the culprit brought alcohol, does it mean it was someone who helped set up the party?” Hajime asked.

“Does anyone remember who the organizers were?”

“Oh, um… it was Setsuka, Yoruko, Hajime, Yuki, Sora, Mikado… and me.” I said quietly.

“Ehe… and once again (Y/n) is suspicious.” Kanade smiled.

**_Stop it._ **

“So the Culprit helped organize the party and stayed late to drink last night. And they would have to be sober… is that what you’re saying?”

“Hey, the only ones not drinking last night were Yoruko and (Y/n). They said they would chaperone us back to the Monocruise, and Yoruko did… but (Y/n) kinda disappeared at some point…” Hajime said.

**_Why won’t they stop?_ **

“N-no… I mean that’s true, but…!”

**_Stop._ **

“This is…”

**_Stop._ **

“All the evidence lines up…”

**_Stop._ **

“Can you explain what happened in more detail? We just want to believe you-”

**_JUST STOP._ **

I couldn’t take it any longer. My hands tightly gripped my podium.

**_THEY NEED TO STOP._ **

“SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU! YOU ARE TAKING THIS WAY TOO FAR! I’M INNOCENT I TELL YOU! IT’S STUPID HOW ALL OF YOU ARE ACCUSING ME BECAUSE OF THESE RIDICULOUS COINCIDENCES! I CAN DEFEND MYSELF! SO SHUT UP AND DON'T IGNORE ME FOR ONCE!”

“(Y-Y/n)!”

_I'll prove i'm not the culprit._

**_They're gonna feel so stupid once they realize the truth._ **

“I LEFT EARLY LAST NIGHT BECAUSE YURI WAS CREEPING ME OUT! THEN I WENT TO THE MONOCRUISE TO GO TO BED! IN THE MORNING I WENT BACK TO THE GUEST HOUSE TO GET MY CUPCAKES. SHINJI EVEN SAW ME! AND ON MY WAY THERE I WAS ATTACKED AND WOKE UP AT THE TOWER-”

“W-wait… hold on (Y/n)... Syobai told me that he saw you go to the bell tower this morning. He also said you were holding a rope in your hands.” Sora stopped me.

…

…

...

"...W-what?"

“You were telling the truth, right Syobai?” Sora asked, turning to face the broker.

“Huh? Yeah I was telling the truth, never thought the Pillsbury dough girl would be so involved in the case. I was really wondering what she planned to do with that rope. Now that I think about it. That was a really important piece of evidence…”

_...Wait he’s lying!_

“W-wait! Shut up! He’s lying! Syobai is lying! He isn’t telling the truth! I really was attacked after I left the Monocruise! He’s lying about me! He must be the culprit!” I said, pointing directly at him.

  
  


**_My heart is racing._ **

**_Why is he lying?_ **

**_Why do they believe him?_ **

**_Why are they letting me fall apart?_ **

  
  


“But even if you say that…” Iroha began.

“All of the evidence is still stacked against you...” Hajime said.

“It’s almost undeniable at this point. Maybe you’re just an _idiot_ , (Y/n)” Kanade smirked.

  
  


…

  
  


**_Ha._ **

“ ...I… I knew it… hehe…”

  
  


**_Ha ha ha ha ha._ **

  
  


“(Y/n)?”

  
  


**_How could I forget?_ **

  
  


“Hehe… hehehe…”

  
  


**_How dare I forget?_ **

  
  


“(Y/n)?"

  
  


**_Must I be so ignorant?_ **

  
  


Tears streamed down my cheeks as I began screaming I them.

_**H O W D A R E I F O R G E T ?** _

“...I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU ALL HATED ME! YOU’RE ALL ACCUSING ME! YOU WANT ME DEAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD! I REEEEALLY TRIED TO BELIEVE YOU WERE GOOD PEOPLE! BUT YOU’RE ALL JUST A BUNCH OF LIARS AND YOU HATE ME! YOU ALL HATE ME! I’D NEVER KILL SOMEONE! NEVER EVER! I JUST DIDN’T WANT TO BE ALONE ANYMORE AND WHEN I DECIDED TO GIVE YOU ALL A SECOND CHANCE YOU STAB ME IN THE BACK!!!”  
  


“C-calm down (Y/n) that’s not true!” Hajime yelled.

“It’s just Syobai’s account is the most damning of all proof presented so far. How do you plan on defending yourself from such an accusation?” Mikado said.

“I- I…”

  
  


I fell to the ground on my knees, covering my eyes as I cried. I can't look at them.

**_This is it… isn’t it?_ **

  
  


**_…_ **

  
  
  


“Please…just believe me…”

  
  
  


**_They don’t._ **

  
  
  


**_They don’t want to._ **

  
  
  


**_They want you to suffer until the end._ **

  
  
  


“I-I don’t want to die…”


	10. Chapter 1 - Class Trial - 2

I stared at the bright red and gold floor below me, my tears staining the carpet.

  
  


**_I don’t want to die..._ **

I heard the others speaking to each other but all I could do was feel terrified.

  
  


_“Is she okay?”_

  
  


_“Should we just vote now…?”_

  
  


_“No! She didn’t kill him, I know so! I was with her at the tower!”_

  
  


_“You don’t know that, you were asleep!”_

  
  


_“No, Hajime you may not leave your podium-!”_

  
  


_“(Y/n), did you really murder Yu-”_

  
  
  


“Syobai is lying.”

  
  
  


I choked on my own breath and looked over at Kokoro who had spoken.

  
  


_She believes me?_

  
  


“What…?” Sora asked, looking confused.

“Sora, did Syobai mention when he saw (Y/n) leave?”

“That’s… (Y/n) left as soon as the doors opened… that’s gotta be 7 am on the dot.”

“I was on the second floor in the library at the time and saw Syobai walking up to the 3rd floor through the crack in the door. Even if he had seen (Y/n) leave, there is no way he would have known where she went.”

“And didn’t he say she was holding a rope?” Shinji asked.

“Were you lying to us Syobai…?”

…

Everyone looked over at Syobai- me included.

I’m sure the expression of hatred on my face was far from subtle.

...

“Ha, so you caught me. Sorry about that, but I had to test you all.”

  
  


**_What an awful person._ **

  
  


“Test us…?”

“Like I said, if you clear the class trial for me, I’ll be set. I was testing to see if you could really do it without my help.”

“What? Are you serious?”

“Just a little perjury, that’s all. I didn’t think Miss Ultimate Psychologist would figure it out. Well whatever, I’m counting on you guys.”

I slowly stood up, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand, despite them still falling and my breath still shaky. “T-that proves my innocence… right, S-Syobai was the one who lied, so he’s the most suspicious…”

“I don’t know about that, he may have lied but you’re still the most suspicious person here, (Y/n).” Kanade said.

…

“But we’re focusing so much on (Y/n), shouldn’t we talk about this more?”

…

“No! (Y/n) Is definitely the killer!”

…

“I don’t wanna suspect my friends… I wanna believe in everyone.”

…

“We seem to be split in the middle.”

  
  


“Split you say? Then I propose a proper debate on the matter, please remain calm as your seats are re-arranged.” Monocrow said.

Suddenly all of the podiums were lifted up and moved until they were in two seperate lines across from one another.

I was on the right side along with Sora, Yoruko, Shinji, Setsuka, Kokoro, Syobai, and Emma.

And across from us were Yuki, Hajime, Nikei, Hibiki, Kanade, Mikado, and Iroha.

‘Is (Y/n) (L/n) the culprit?’

**_I’m not._ **

**_I know I'm not._ **

“(Y/n) was the only person awake at the top of the bell tower, went to the _party_ , and fits all the criteria-”

“Yuki, we still need to figure out if the _party_ is relevant to this case.” Sora said, cutting him off.

“Knowing Yuri, the culprit has to be a _woman_ -”

“We’ve already figured out the culprit can be a _woman_ or a man, Hajime” Emma said.

“(Y/n) is the only one with a super suspicious _alibi_ -”

“J-just stop it already Hibiki! Yoruko was on the tower too! And both Syobai and Kokoro don’t even have _alibi_ s! Why are you accusing me!” I said, my voice still shaky from crying.

“(Y/n) set up _drinks_ for the party-”

“That is false Kanade, (Y/n) did not set up _drinks_ , she made cupcakes for the party.” Kokoro explained.

“She could have taken advantage of the fact we were _drunk_ to forge her alibi-”

“Hey! (Y/n) isn’t the only one who wasn’t _drunk,_ Nikei, shouldn’t we suspect the others too!?” Shinji yelled.

“I hate to say it but… (Y/n) is our only _suspect_ , there’s nothing else we can do…

“Iroha, we haven’t even discussed the possibility of another _suspect_ besides (Y/n)!” Setsuka said.

“And that’s our argument! There is no way (Y/n) (L/n) is the culprit!” Yoruko said to the other team.

…

“I suppose we can’t come to a conclusion yet…” Mikado sighed as the podiums were moved to their original places.

“It’s wrong to vote for (Y/n) as the killer when there’s still so many questions about the case… I know she didn’t do it.” Yoruko said as she gave me a warm smile.

“Yoruko… thank you…” I said, finally getting a hold of myself.

  
  


_She cares._

_I need to get it together._

_I investigated._

_I need to be useful._

_I’m going to figure out the truth._

  
  


“...Alright, let’s put aside our culprit accusations for now and focus on the other mysteries of this case.” Yuki said.

“So we’re back to square one?!”

“Unlike a regular trial, we’ll die if we get so much as a single thing wrong,” Kokoro explained, “We need to keep discussing until we reach a conclusion we can all agree on.”

“Kokoro, you know who the culprit is right? Can’t you just tell us already?”

“You all believe (Y/n) is the culprit right now. Would you really be able to accept my answer if I named someone who isn’t her?”

There was a long silence until Mikado spoke up, “Are you saying (Y/n) Isn’t the culprit?”

“…”

  
  


**_...Why is she so silent?_ **

  
  


“Okay… so instead of thinking about who the culprit is… let’s talk about how they did it. We aren’t sure if the culprit attacked Yuri this morning or last night. What did the killer do before they killed Yuri?” Setsuka changed the subject.

“...Are you talking about the hook in Yuri’s left calf?”

“Yeah, Yuki said it was there when you saw him this morning, right? Even if he was drunk, he wouldn’t have just let the culprit hook him like that without putting up a fight. The culprit would have restrained him by any means possible…”

_Well, unless the culprit was a woman._

“Maybe the culprit used a blunt weapon to-”

“Wait, no, Hibiki, I have evidence that the culprit didn’t use something as simple as a blunt weapon. There were traces of liquid anesthetics on the floor at the bell tower. It’s a kind used in major surgeries, right Kanade?” I said, looking over at the younger twin.

“That’s right! It’s available at the infirmary.” Kanade confirmed.

“With that I see no reason to doubt that the killer used the anesthetic to subdue Yuri.”

  
  


_Now that I think about it, is it possible that was what the culprit used to attack Yoruko and I?_

  
  


“Here’s another thing involving the anesthetic,” Sora began “Kanade said she went to the infirmary after she found out anesthetic was involved and saw there was a syringe missing."

“That’s right, with that syringe you’d be able to calculate how long you want someone to stay unconscious! The exact measurements are labelled right on it!”

“Nobody found a syringe or anything like that during the investigation so that means…” Shinji said as he studied everyone in the room.

“The culprit must still have the syringe with them right now!” Iroha gasped.

“...I doubt our culprit is stupid enough to have it on them, they probably hid it somewhere or threw it away.” Kokoro said.

“If they used a syringe like that they could have subdued Yuri even if he wasn’t drunk…”

...

“...There’s something that’s bothering me… when Sora and I saw Yuri… he said ‘Finally a woman has come to kill me. I'm glad to have achieved my dreams’.” Yuki said.

“He said that as he was about to die? That’s so creepy!”

“So, does that mean our culprit isn’t a man after all?”

“Well… what’s bothering me is that Yuri said he’d cooperate with a female, right? And still, why did the culprit subdue Yuri and wait for him to get drunk if they didn’t need to?” Yuki questioned.

“Yeah, that’s a good point, doing all that would create more evidence right?”  
  


“In review, if the culprit was a male, his only chance to kill Yuri would have been through the party. And yet there is still a blank spot unfilled for the time period between then and night time… if it was a female, they could have simply got Yuri from the monocruise at any time. However, if that was the case they wouldn’t have enough time to set up the crime in morning. Of course, in this situation the time period between the party and night time is still unexplained.” Nikei said as he wrote on his notepad.

“About what happened before night time… isn’t it possible that’s when the culprit set up the whole crime? Kokoro said someone can stay out all night as long as they don’t fall asleep right? And since we can’t explain how the culprit set their crime up in the morning we can assume they set it up at night!” Kanade exclaimed.

That’s… definitely possible.

“That’d be almost 9 hours though, would they really need that much time to prepare the murder? All they had to prepare was the rope, hooks, wires, and anesthetic right?” Nikei seemed skeptical.

“...Wait, do you really think Yuri was lifted up just by using a rope? ...Ah, I understand. I knew something was off when you all started accusing (Y/n)... you’ve all been mistaken from the beginning.” Kokoro said.

“Mistaken…? What are you talking about?”

“The culprit didn’t simply drop Yuri to his death after pulling him up the bell tower.”

...

“...Oh! I see! It was sooo obvious in hindsight but I completely missed it!” Kanade… giggled? “Think, Yuri is short, but it’s still physically impossible for someone to drag him all the way up the bell tower, especially for someone as small as (Y/n).”

“Really? Isn’t there something the culprit could have done?”

“Yes, it is possible, but your initial assumption of the culprit pulling Yuri up was wrong. Kanade’s explanation is correct, think everyone, you’ve seen the evidence.” Kokoro said, glancing at everyone, waiting until someone spoke.

…

Wait.

...I think... I get it…

  
  


“W-wait… I think I know how it happened…” 

“Really (Y/n)? How?”

“...Yuri wasn’t simply just dragged by the rope, he was pulled up as a reaction to something! There was a hook in Yuri’s left calf which was attached to a long rope. Initially we assumed Yuri was just pulled up by someone, but it’s not possible for someone to just pull him straight up! Even Hajime and Shinji can’t pull him up that way, at least at the speed he was pulled up. And I actually found something with Setsuka that can prove the culprit did this.”

“The lifejacket right?” Setsuka asked.

“Yeah, I saw it too, it was left in the bushes by the tower, the same kind of hook that was in Yuri’s calf was attached to it- and the hook had also been attached to a rope, but it was cut.” Sora added.

“Yes! At one point the hook in Yuri’s calf was connected to the same rope as the hook on the lifejacket! If the culprit had jumped down from the tower with the lifejacket, Yuri would get pulled up too!” I agreed.

_Good thing I'm being useful after that whole situation..._

**_Or at least I hope I am…_ **

“Exactly! That has to be how the culprit did it!” Kanade said.

“Wait… If the culprit jumped off the tower then why was (Y/n) still at the top…?”

“According to both (Y/n) and Yoruko,they were attacked this morning and left there. When Yuki and I saw Yuri before he was killed, the culprit was probably waiting at the top along with the unconscious (Y/n) and Yoruko.” Sora explained.

“This plan would explain why Sora and Yuki only found the two girls at the top of the tower. They were nothing but a red herring. The true culprit wouldn’t have been up there. After all, the culprit had to jump off the tower for Yuri to ascend to the top.” Mikado’s mask smiled.

“I mean, I get it in theory, but would he really be able to be pulled up that easily? There’s tons of factors involved, like friction and what not…” Nikei brought up.

“...I… remember the bell ringing, and I think I know why. The culprit threaded the rope through the hanging bell and used it as a fulcrum. I’m not very good at drawing, but I'll try to illustrate it. Iroha, may I borrow your sketchbook for a moment?” Sora asked.

Iroha handed her sketchbook over to Sora who drew what the culprit did…

It showed the top of the bell tower with the rope threaded through the top of the bell- on one end showed a stick figure being pulled up, and on the other end of the rope was a stick figure jumping off the edge while wearing a lifejacket. It’s exactly as I thought it must have happened… though the picture was very badly drawn, honestly.

_At least we could still understand what was happening in it._

“This is how the culprit did it. As you may not know, the hole at the top of the bell is too small for the hooks to fit through, so the culprit probably attached the hooks after threading the rope through the hanging bell.” Sora said.

"But the bell is very high up? How did the culprit adjust the rope? With just a simple mistake they could have fallen to their death.”

“I believe they practiced the method beforehand. If you look at the marks on the bell, they don’t look shallow enough to be made after a single use.” Sora stated.

_So… the culprit practiced jumping off the tower?_

_Now that I think about it… who the hell in this killing game has the guts to do something as insane as that in the first place?!_

“Are you saying the culprit practiced their murder multiple times before the actual crime?” Mikado asked.

“Yes, the hooks wouldn’t have been able to fit through the bell, so the culprit wouldn’t fall. The marks in the bell were also created by the hooks scraping against the metal. After the culprit found the correct amount of rope and landed on the surface, they just had to cut the rope.”

“...Doing that would make Yuri fall due to the shifting weight balance!” I said.

“That is the truth behind the crime scene Yuki and I witnessed!”

“Hold on!” Kanade said, capturing everyone’s attention, “Even if the culprit accounted for the length of rope, the bell tower is too tall! If they fell while hanging from just the hooked lifejacket, the force from landing would dislocate their shoulders.”

...That’s true-

...wait…

“But... those wires we saw, the culprit originally attached them to the walls, right? I bet the reason they did answers the problem. At first I thought it was just a distraction of sorts, but thinking about it again, Yuri was cut up by those wires at a high speed as he went up, so the friction must have softened the culprit’s landing!” I said, thinking back to when I walked down the stairs.

“There’s no denying it…”

“So… (Y/n) really isn’t the culprit?”

“...That sucks.” Kanade sighed.

…

“...W-what? Why?” I asked, feeling hurt.

“Cause now we have to suspect everyone besides you as the culprit! How are we supposed to narrow it down when our prime suspect is innocent!” Kanade said with an annoyed look on her face.

“I-I see… i’m glad (Y/n) didn’t kill Yuri, but we’re back at the start…” Hajime said.

“Not completely, we did learn something from our previous discussion. The culprit had to be outside the Monocruise last night, the culprit had to adjust the rope and everything, they needed enough time to do something like that. Being outside with Yuri would have given our culprit enough time to do everything. Someone would definitely have noticed if that was being done in the morning.” Yuki said, going over what we discussed.

“Furthermore, there was a misconception that we couldn’t be outside at night. The culprit used that as an advantage to test out their murder plan.”

“So based on our previous discussion we can also say the culprit is a man for sure! As we know, a woman wouldn’t have to use such a complex method.” Kanade smiled.

“The culprit must have known if Yuri died we’d assume the culprit was a woman. That fact alone was his alibi… very clever.” Mikado chuckled.

“If it’s one of the guys, that’s easy! The culprit is either Syobai, or Mikado! Syobai doesn't have an alibi, and Mikado is the mastermind!” Shinji yelled.

_Are you kidding me? Okay, this is the last thing we need right now…_

“Did you even listen to me? I told you not to have any bias against me in the trial. It should be clear I’m giving my all to unveil the truth.” Mikado sighed.

“What you’re saying is unlikely big bro, the culprit would have had to stay late last night. That’s the only chance they’d have to kidnap Yuri. Both Mikado and Syobai weren’t part of that group.” Yuki explained to his Shinji.

“Uh… but can’t Mikado use magic? He could easily fly and kidnap him right?”

“Knox’s second law! All supernatural and preternatural agencies are to be ruled out!” Mikado exclaimed.

“...What the heck is Knox’s law…?” I asked.

“An absolute code of logic in detective fiction that cannot be violated. It forbids any unrealistic phenomena from interfering with murder. I give my most sincere, empathetic vow that I do not use my magic for matters relating to murder.”

“And are we just supposed to take your word for it? How can we trust the words of the mastermind!” Hajime yelled at him.

“...I guess i’m left with no other options, it’s the only way… Monocrow, I humbly request you add a new rule! ‘Mikado Sannoji cannot use magic for any purpose relating to the murder case!’.”

“Hm? Are you sure about that rule?” Monocrow asked.

“Yes, I’ve already made a vow to seal my magic beforehand regardless. Besides, the simple concept of magic seems to be hindering the progress of this trial. I’d like the opportunity to clarify my position in this killing game.”

“Very well, the rules will be updated by the end of the trial.”

“So… Mikado can’t be the culprit…” Shinji sighed.

“...Why are you trying to make this problem harder than it is? The answer is already out there, only one other person fits the conditions for this crime. Think carefully about the conditions the person would need to be the culprit. Once you do that, the answer is obvious.” Kokoro said to all of us.

_..._

_...The culprit had to have stayed at the party late last night, they needed to be part of the group who prepared the party, and they have to be a man…_

_..._

_The ones who set up the party were Setsuka, Hajime, Yoruko, Sora, Yuki, Mikado, and me…_

_..._

_The ones who stayed late were Setsuka, Hajime, Yoruko, Shinji, Emma, Yuri, and me…_

  
  
  


_…_

  
  


_…_

  
  


_…_

  
  


_…_

  
  


_…!_

  
  
  


  
  
  
  


_“...Hajime?”_


	11. Chapter 1 - Class Trial - 3

…

“Hajime… _you_ … killed Yuri?”

Hajime looked over at me, a look of surprise on his face, “...What…?”

“W-wait a minute, (Y/n)! You’re saying Hajime’s the culprit?!” Shinji stuttered, looking at me as if I was insane.

“W-well… I-I don’t want to… but no one else besides Hajime fits all the conditions to be the culprit… He helped prepare the party with us… and he stayed late to drink with Yuri too…”

“She’s right, he’s the only one that was part of both groups and he’s a man as well. Three strikes.” Sora said.

…

“That’s correct. Hajime Makunouchi is the person I've suspected had set up this crime since the beginning of the trial.” Kokoro said.

“How did you know so soon?”

“Try to remember the question I asked at the very beginning of the investigation.” Kokoro began, “I asked everyone ‘How do you feel about this murder?’.”

“I do recall you saying that but, I don’t see how that is relevant to the question."

“...I can tell if a person is lying just by hearing them talk.”

“So you knew Hajime was the culprit from that single question?” I asked.

_Is that really possible…?_

“By comparing the clues and listening to each of the suspects, I was able to easily solve the crime… There is one more person that caught my attention… but we will save that for the end of this trial, for now, it’s Hajime we need to talk about. Because he is, without any doubt in my mind, the person who set up this crime. It’s the undeniable truth.”

Kokoro looked right at me as she spoke those words.

_What does she mean?_

“...Then that means… even the person who… attacked me… was Hajime? All this… time?” I looked over at Hajime who was across from me. 

_Why does that thought… **hurt so much…?** _

“Hey! Hold on just a second! Why are you all makin’ me the culprit all of a sudden?! Don’t you remember? I might qualify for the conditions but that doesn't change the fact that I was drunk. The only people who weren’t drunk were Yoruko and (Y/n)!” Hajime said, finally speaking.

“Well… that’s true…”

“Yoruko was one of the only sober people and even she says I was drunk. How the hell could I have killed Yuri? You all said the culprit had to practice their murder multiple times. That’s just not possible drunk. Are you guys accusin’ me just because I fit those conditions? Because if you are, I’m gonna get mad!”

...You already sound pretty mad to be honest.

“The culprit couldn’t have pulled off their plan drunk. That means the culprit must be someone who wasn’t drunk last night!”

“R-right… there’s no way Hajime’s the culprit!” Shinji agreed.

“Shinji! This isn’t about friendship! You need to think logically! Besides, there are other reasons why Hajime is suspicious.” Kanade pointed out.

“No matter how suspicious I am I couldn’t have done the murder while drunk. Just ask Yoruko! I was drunk too!”

“...Well, he’s not wrong… minus (Y/n) and I, everyone who stayed late at the party last night, Hajime included, were completely drunk-”

…!

“W-wait… I…”

…

“...Huh? (Y/n)? Is somethin’ wrong?”

_Why is he so concerned?_

**_...He’s just tricking me._ **

“...Seriously?” Kanade said with a bored look on her face, “Don’t even bother pulling the _‘I’ll comfort you!’_ card on (Y/n) again Hajime, it’s not gonna change anything you know? We all know you’re the culprit.”

“…”

“...Um… I’m not sure if everyone was drunk last night… I went to the guest house during the investigation and… i’m not sure if anyone else did this, but I checked the leftover bottles of alcohol… and some of them were filled with water instead… at first I thought it was something that got mixed in but it had the label of alcohol on the front… and now that I think about it… is it possible Hajime just drank water and pretended to be drunk?” I hesitantly asked.

“…”

“What do you mean ‘pretended to be drunk’?”

“...Well, if Hajime was acting drunk during the party, he knew he’d be crossed off the suspect list… after all… we did say the culprit couldn’t have been drunk…”

“…”

“...There’s more too… Um, Yoruko, remember what you told Sora and I…? You said Yuri left to go to the washroom before you all went back to the Monocruise and you said someone left with him too, right? Do you think… the person could’ve been... Hajime? “ I asked, looking over at my pink haired friend.

Before she could open her mouth, Setsuka cut in, “Wait! I think I just remembered something! That person told us to go on ahead! He said he’d take Yuri to the bathroom and then come right back… he had… blonde hair and big muscles… I-it was Hajime!”

“…”

“Based on everyone’s testimonies I think we’ve got everything set in stone. I mean, Yuri must have been completely drunk for him to accept help from a male, right?” Kanade smirked.

So, Hajime just lied about taking Yuri to the restroom and never came back to the Monocruise?”

“...”

I looked over at Hajime and said, “...If… we consider you as the culprit… everything makes perfect sense… Hajime… did you really-” 

“WAIT…! Wait! (Y-Y/n), please! Hajime’s the culprit?! That can’t be right!! Hajime has an alibi! Please let me explain! I know fighting against words isn’t my thing but… but i’ll have to do it to counter you (Y/n)! I have to do it for my friend!” Shinji interrupted.

“Shinji…!” 

My heart broke at his words.

_He’s defending Hajime…_

_Even though I know he knows the truth deep down…_

“Hajime and I go jogging every morning, that’s our routine right after we wake up! I was waiting for Hajime in the corridor. Like I said, while I was waiting I saw you and Yoruko leaving the Monocruise. Sure Hajime was a bit later than normal… but he couldn’t have killed Yuri in that small amount of time! He just went to the bathroom! When a man’s gotta go, a man’s gotta go! You can’t blame him for that!”

“B-but Shinji… isn’t the fact that Hajime was late kinda suspicious? I know I’m not close with him like you are, but from what I know he’s not the type to be late… so if what you’re saying is true… isn’t it strange?” I stuttered.

...

“Yeah… it is definitely strange… but when the body discovery announcement was made, Hajime was with us at the diner! If Hajime committed a murder at the bell tower, he wouldn’t be back in time! He never could have met with us in the diner!”

“Sorry Shinji, but Hajime could have easily made it back in time. The discovery was actually made sometime after Yuri’s death.” Sora said.

“Right,” Yuki confirmed, “The body discovery announcement only plays when 3 people have seen the body. When Sora and I initially saw Yuri’s body drop to the ground dead, the announcement didn’t play. The announcement only played after we ran all the way up the stairs and had Yoruko see the body!”

“Oh, so basically, after Sora and Yuki saw Yuri’s body… The culprit had extra time to move around while they climbed upstairs.”

“...”

“Anyone who investigated the stairs should know it takes at least 5 minutes to climb the stairs all the way to the top. Of course, the culprit was able to quickly get down safely by jumping with his fulcrum mechanism. This is a relatively small island. Our culprit could have easily made it back to the Monocruise in time for the announcement.” Sora said.

“Wait… but didn’t Shinji say he went jogging with Hajime? If Yuri died at 7:30 am, then how did Hajime kill Yuri?”

…

“...I… briefly parted ways with Shinji while joggin’.” Hajime admitted while looking at the floor.

“B-but…! That was to get your crow card you forgot at the guest house… It didn’t even take you more than 10 minutes… There’s no way you could have done it in that time.” Shinji said.

“...There is this one thing that I keep thinking about…” Setsuka began, “do we all agree the culprit attacked Yoruko and (Y/n) as soon as they left the Monocruise and carried them to the bell tower? If so, they had to have attacked them around 7:00 am this morning and moved them to the bell tower, went back to the Monocruise, go jogging with Shinji, part ways mid jog, run back to the top of the tower, make sure Sora and Yuki were there and jumped off the tower, killing Yuri, dealt with the rope and lifejacket, then came back to the Monocruise? All of this… in such a short amount of time? Is that even possible?”

  
“Shinji, what time did you meet Hajime this morning?” Nikei asked the red haired man.

“Well… uh… 7:15 am.”

“Even if we say the culprit ambushed the girls at 7:00 am… 5 minutes to run to the tower, 5 minutes to run upstairs, 5 minutes rushing back down, and 5 minutes to run to the Monocruise… there just… wouldn’t be enough time!” Yuki said as he calculated the time.

“No, they could have, if you remove one of the steps, it fits perfectly. You guys are assuming the stairs are the only way down when he could have used the rope! I mean, he already adjusted the rope length so it would work right?” Kanade brought up.

“But wasn’t the rope connected to Yuri? Yuri was killed at 7:30 am, but if he used the rope at that time he should have killed Yuri.”

“He just had to get rid of the connection with Yuri! Hajime could’ve just yanked the hook out of Yuri’s leg when he carried (Y/n) and Yoruko to the top! Not a lot of people wander outside in the morning so Hajime was easily the first person to enter… wouldn't everything be solved if Hajime just put the hook back in Yuri’s calf?”

Ew...

“That mysterious wound on Yuri’s other calf! What Kanade said would explain how the wound was created in the first place... So initially, the hook was in Yuri’s right calf, but to save time after moving Yoruko and (Y/n) to the top, the culprit used it as a means of transportation!” Sora said.

“So, he took the hook out of the right calf so he could slide down, then put the hook in his left calf when returning to the bell tower.”

“After he met with Shinji, all he had to do was put his plan in action. So when he did, he just waited for Yuki and Sora, and then he jumped.”

“Hold on, (Y/n), you said the culprit used those wires to slow down his descent, right? If he used the rope before the murder he didn’t have anything to cushion his fall.” Setsuka looked over at me.

“That’s a big problem, didn’t Kanade say falling from that high would break your arms or something?” Nikei asked.

“That’s not a problem this time,” Kanade started speaking “I know this sounds a bit ironic coming from me, but unlike back then we know 100% who the culprit is. Before I said anyone could injure their arms because I didn't know who the culprit was, But Hajime’s a boxer! Wouldn’t he be able to withstand the impact to some degree? Nobody cares about their health more than he does! And of course the lifejacket would absorb some impact too, right?”

“Doesn’t that sound a bit unrealistic? Don’t forget he did set up the wire system, if he could withstand the impact, he wouldn’t have to.” Yuki mentioned.

“...In your opinion, who among us would possess the fortitude necessary to pull off such a stunt?” Kokoro asked.

“Huh? Uh, well going on pure muscle… I’d say either big bro or Hajime.”

“See, the list of potential culprits has instantly gone down to two.”

“I get it… the wires were set up so the culprit could use it as an alibi… if there were no breaks involved, our first question would be ‘who can endure the fall?’...” I said.

“Exactly! He also may have needed a little break to lessen the pain of the fall. Whether Hajime endured the fall or not, it’s the undeniable truth that he jumped off the tower twice. And as such it would all fit into place, should we inspect Hajime’s shoulders for further evidence?” Kanade suggested.

“He also could have experimented through the impacts at night…”

“…”

“Yuki, you received a message from Yuri asking for help, but the existence of such a thing on its own is very suspicious. Why would Yuri reach out to a male in his final moments rather than a female? Isn’t it odd?” Kokoro mentioned.

_True… that’s strange… and why **Yuki** of all people…? _

**_There’s a reason Yuki, out of everyone, was chosen… but I feel like I'm not supposed to know what that reason is…_ **

“...Yeah… and Yuri wanted to be murdered by a woman too… it would be weird if he asked for help when he was happy about it… Hajime probably took Yuri’s handbook and sent the message…” I said, looking at my hands tightly gripping my podium.

“Now I see why he used the syringe with the exact measurements… it was to make sure Yuri woke up once I arrived at the tower.”

“I’d say all these theories check out… but why did he put the hook in Yuri’s leg and then pull it out? He could have gone down the rope first and then put it in his leg…” Nikei asked.

“Hmmm… Is it possible that Yoruko and (Y/n)- or perhaps just Yoruko, was actually a thorn in the culprit’s plan?” Mikado brought up.

_...What?_

“A thorn in the culprit’s plan…? And why just Yoruko?”

“Think about it,” Mikado began explaining, “the culprit spent all night outside, and had to wait until morning to execute their plan. Therefore, Hajime could have entered as soon as the Monocruise doors opened, but he didn’t. Because he waited for a certain person to leave the ship- that person being (Y/n).”

“What do you mean…? Why me…?”

_What is he talking about…?_

“(Y/n), you said you left early to get the cupcakes you left at the guest house, and Yoruko, you said (Y/n) left the guest house and cupcakes behind after Hajime got in between her and Yuri, correct? Well in the morning he must have waited for her to exit the ship, knowing she would have to pick up the cupcakes. Once she was close by, he would attack her and take her to the tower. Could it be possible Hajime planned this situation and took advantage of (Y/n)’s unease around us to frame her? And perhaps Yoruko just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It explains why (Y/n) woke up from the anesthetic before Yoruko, not to mention carrying two people up the stairs, he must have had even less time, which may have been the actual reason he had to take to hook out of Yuri’s calf and jump.”

…

_...He... **what...?** _

"W-wait, wouldn't it be weird that Hajime would frame (Y/n) of all people? He really likes her... I don't think he'd do that." Shinji said.

"Hm, perhaps it was a last minute step to the plan that the culprit came up with. As you mentioned, Hajime is quite fond of (Y/n), so if he chose to frame her of all people, it would have put him very low on our list of potential suspects who framed her... well, it would have if there wasn't so much evidence pointing to him that is..."

...

“I agree with Mikado, that must be the case. Jumping from that high up is too much of a gamble. Even for Hajime. He wouldn’t have risked something like that unless it messed up his plans. Anything to add Hajime?” Kanade said smugly as she looked over at the boxer.

“…”

“Why are you just standing there Hajime? Tell them they’re wrong!” Shinji yelled.

“...I-I've gotta admit… everything you’ve said so far lines up to me…” Hajime stuttered.

“Maybe it’s because you’re guilty? Ever thought of that?” Kanade said with a smile.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!! Don’t you believe in your friends at all?!” Shinji said, pointing at the younger twin.

  
“...You’re all teamin’ up on me with this weak… speculation… bullshit! Thinkin’ i’d actually wanna frame (Y/n)! You all know I try my best to protect her-! I wouldn’t use her fear against her or any twisted stuff like that! This is all bullshit. There’s nothin’ more to say!” Hajime defended himself.

After that… I just listened to his argument.

_**His pathetic argument.** _

_**The argument of Yuri Kagarin’s killer.** _

_“Are you stupid?!”_

_…_

_“It’s all a bunch of speculation!”_

_…_

_“Are you guys really fallin’ for this shit?!”_

_…_

_“I’d never treat (Y/n) like that!”_

_…_

_“It’s all lies!”  
  
_

_…_

_“This doesn't prove anythin’ at all!”_

_…_

_“It wasn’t me you liars!”_

_…_

_“You’ve got not fuckin’ proof!”_

_…_

_“I’m not the culprit!”_

_…_

_“What makes me so suspicious!!?”_

_…_

_**His actions are inconsistent with his personality.** _

  
  


“...Hey Hajime, are you really gonna insist you were drunk? You, Hajime Makunouchi, got completely drunk? That’s not like you at all.” Sora asked.

“…”

“...Nobody cares more about health than you do, Hajime… I did think it was strange… that you of all people were drinking at the party…” I said, glaring at him.

“You did say a little bit is okay for your health, but you drank so much more than a bit…”

“And I just can’t see you being unable to restrain yourself from drinking.”

“There’s this thing called a ‘mood’. I’m a human too, you know? I let loose sometimes!” Hajime said as if we were stupid.

_**Bullshit.** _

_**I’ve had enough.** _

“...Hajime… please… just cut it out already… you were the one who wanted to invite Yuri to the party, remember…?” I sai.

_**...Just give up already.** _

“…!”

“That’s right! You wanted to invite Yuri saying he wasn’t that bad of a person… even then you hadn’t forgotten to talk about the importance of health.” Yoruko said.

“...Damn it! Hajime, what the hell were you thinking?!” Shinji asked.

“...It’s not me… i’m not the culprit…” 

“Fine, have it your way, let’s review this case from the start, then you’ll have no choice but to admit your crimes.” Sora stated.

  
  
  


**CLOSING ARGUMENT**

_**Act 1 -** _

_It all began when Yuri started saying all that weird stuff about wanting to die for a single woman. He knew we were getting desperate so he offered any girl the chance to kill him and escape. Unfortunately, his words caught the attention of this case’s culprit. If Yuri had been killed, everyone would have suspected a woman as the culprit. The culprit used this to his advantage in his murder. However, Yuri locked himself in his room and would only answer to women. Setsuka decided to host a surprise party to cheer everyone up. Our culprit saw this party as a critical part of his plan. After involving himself with the party, he were able to convince everyone else to invite Yuri. While preparing the party, our culprit mixed up some drinks with alcohol. This was to make sure people got drunk. It wasn’t too long after the party started that Yuri, a man who was fond of wine, got completely drunk._

**Act 2 -**

_Both our culprit and the victim drank late into the night- this was when the culprit decided to add framing (Y/n) as part of his plan by getting in between her and Yuri, causing her to get uncomfortable and accidentally leave her cupcakes behind at the guest house. Once the party had reached an end, our culprit ‘helped’ Yuri and slipped away from the others. As a result, both the culprit and victim were left alone all night outside the Monocruise. Once separated, the culprit took our victim directly to the bell tower. Since this all took place at night, there were no witnesses or interruptions that could affect them. Yuri had already passed out from being drunk, but to be extra sure, our culprit used a syringe to inject him with liquid anesthetic that would keep him out for a long time. Since our killer had plenty of time until morning, he took some time to practice his method, it was during this practice he made sure his measurements were perfect. Once finished, he waited outside until morning. Once the morning announcement went off he made his way to the Monocruise where he saw (Y/n) exit so she could pick up the cupcakes she forgot at the party. Once (Y/n) had gotten close enough, our culprit attacked her from behind and injected her with liquid anesthetic. While carrying her to the bell tower, he saw Yoruko was walking towards the tower too, if she was there, his whole plan would be ruined._

**Act 3 -**

_The culprit had no choice but to inject her with the remaining anesthetic and move her to the tower with (Y/n). Because of this, he no longer had the time to run up the stairs to put (Y/n) there and run back down like he planned, because by this time he was late for his morning jog with Shinji. So to hurry, he removed the hook from Yuri’s right calf while moving both girls. To save time, the culprit used the rope as a means of transportation. Holding both Yoruko and (Y/n), the culprit rushed to the top of the tower, using his fulcrum method. Normally, they would injure themselves without the weight of Yuri and the wires to slow him down, but he decided to take a risk and put faith in his fitness and health, thankfully for our culprit, his talent was perfect for this. The killer, who had shortened his travel time, joined Shinji at the Monocruise. During the jog, the culprit made an excuse to depart from Shinji for a moment. Returning to the bell tower, our culprit rearranged the hook placement. He couldn’t re-use the right calf as it had been really torn up, so he inserted it into the left calf- this is the reason he had wounds in both calves. Once everything was ready, the culprit used Yuri’s handbook to send a distress message to Yuki._

_**Act 4 -** _

_As Yuki received the distress message, our culprit quickly made his way up the bell tower. Once the culprit heard we were there, and Yuri had woken up… he jumped off the tower once again- this time, actually doing the murder. Yuri, who was connected to the lifejacket via the hooks, was sent flying into the air. As Yuri flew up, he was cut up by several sharp wires that were set up by the culprit. The culprit, now safely on the ground, cut the rope and… Yuri was sent falling to finish him off. Since there was nothing to slow his fall, it was without a doubt the true reason for his death. Yuri, who we had just seen alive a moment earlier… was now a bloody mess on the ground. This is the truth of Yuri’s death Yuki and I witnessed. Once we saw the gruesome sight, we decided to rush upstairs, hoping to find the culprit. While we did that, the culprit quickly disposed of the lifejacket and headed to the Monocruise. Doing so would give him an alibi when the body discovery announcement went off. Fortunately for him and his fitness, he was able to make it back in time. Right after the body discovery announcement, the culprit made it to the tower with everyone else. Doing so he reacted innocent like the others. However, this was all an act… In truth he was the one who killed Yuri Kagarin…_

"The culprit without a doubt is…"

  
  
  


_"Hajime Makunouchi! The Ultimate Boxer!"_


	12. Chapter 1 - Class Trial - 4

After the reveal, everyone and everything in the courtroom was silent. Until Sora finally spoke,

“It’s over, Hajime. You are the culprit.”

...

“Aha… I guess I can’t argue with that, huh?" Hajime quietly laughed.

“Does that mean…?”

“I can’t deny it now… They got it all right… I’m sorry Shinji… I’m the culprit.”

“H-Hajime… how could you…?” Shinji stuttered.

…

“...I’m sorry.”

“W-What do you mean, ‘Sorry’...? You’re the culprit! You murdered Yuri… and all you have to say is ‘I’m sorry’?!” Yoruko yelled in pure anger and shock.

…

“...Why? Hajime, why did you do this…? Why would you, of all people, kill someone?” Sora asked.

“Please answer Hajime, why did you kill Yuri?” Yuki asked.

“...I can’t tell ya.”

**_Why?_ **

“You guys wouldn’t understand it at all. You’d hate me even more if I told you.”

**_We don’t hate you. Just speak._ **

“Are you serious?! We had to go through all of this because of you! We do all of this and you won’t give us a straight answer?!” Hibiki yelled, tightly clenching her fists.

“Hajime, please tell us, we just want to know. Did you forget about the rules of the class trial?”

**_Death._ **

“If the blackened’s identity is revealed during the trial, they will be punished.”

**_Death._ **

“Right, Hajime as soon as we vote, you’re going to be killed, do you realize that?”

_**Hajime will die.** _

“She’s right Hajime, I don’t hate you, I just want to know why…”

“Was it because you wanted to escape?”

“...It’s the same for all of us, we have friends and family waiting for us out there… we all had the willpower to hold in our desire to escape… that’s why I refuse to believe Hajime murdered Yuri just to escape the island. His willpower is the strongest of all.”

_**Why would he do this?** _

“Yuki is right. There has to be another reason for this. Hajime, just tell us what it was. If you don’t… I really don’t know if we’ll be able to move forward from this.” Setsuka said.

“...I’m sorry, I still can’t tell you… but you’re right, I didn’t kill Yuri just to get off the island. I had to kill someone, so I did… My decision didn’t have a process. The only thing left is the outcome.”

_**Why did you do it?** _

“Whatever my true reason was, I killed Yuri. I’m not trying to make any excuses here… I just want to die the way I am… right now… a murderer…”

Shinji quickly spoke up, “D-die?! Don’t just jump to conclusions! We haven’t even voted yet! There’s gotta be another way!”

“...What are you talking about? Once we vote, there are no exceptions to the execution rule! Are you just going to turn to escapism now?” Kanade asked.

“N-No… I…”

“...Hold on just a second Hajime… Did you say you wanted to die as a ‘murderer’?” Kokoro looked straight at Hajime… with a… knowing look in her eyes?

“What are you getting at Kokoro?”

“...That’s not what you really mean, not at all. You can’t deceive me Hajime… The emotion in your words just now… you’re hiding something.”

“Kokoro… what’s the matter?”

“I know what Hajime’s saying sounds stoic, but… Hajime’s current thoughts suggest he knows he isn’t going to die at all…” Kokoro said.

_**He isn’t…? Going to die…?** _

“What do you mean Kokoro? Are you reading his thoughts or something?” Yuki seemed extremely startled.

“I know your psychologist abilities are real, Kokoro… But, are you sure Hajime is thinking that?” Setsuka said while holding Hibiki who was silently crying in her arms. 

“...I cannot read his exact emotions because of those sunglasses covering his eyes… but I can still tell that there was an abnormal reason for this murder… what is it?” Kokoro said to us- or more so to Hajime.

_**Tell us.** _

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about! I was prepared to die. I have nothin’ more to say! Just vote for me already!”

“Hajime, you can tell them.” Mikado said.

_**...Mikado… said?** _

“...What?”

“You can tell them the truth. I know you’re worried about the consequences. However, I assure you that you may speak freely. Besides, I doubt we can hide this from Kokoro any longer.”

**. _..Tell me._**

“H-hey! Just… stop bothering him already… this has nothing to do with you, Mikado.” I said, crossing my arms.

**...Tell me.**

“Mikado, are you sure it’s okay?” 

**...Tell me right now.**

“Yes, I am completely sure. While we can’t tell them everything you may give your motive for murder. I’ll handle the aftermath of this reveal. Do as you please Hajime.”

“Why are Mikado and… Hajime talking like that…?” I asked, clinging onto Yoruko’s arm.

…

“Well… if you say so… nothing’s ever gone wrong listening to you before…”

“Hajime… what’s going on here?” Sora asked.

Suddenly… Hajime… changed.

He began laughing like a maniac, his eyes were a dark and empty red, the smile on his face was not the soft kind of smile he had always shown me before- this smile looked like pure…

_**Insanity.** _

“So you all wanna know why I committed murder huh? The answer is simple. Because my mission was to commit murder!” Hajime said.

_**I should've known.** _

“W-what are you talking about Hajime?! You’re acting strange!”

_**He was no fun- but he was still far too sweet.** _

“Hm? What’s so strange? You all wanted to know why I did it, right? Well, that’s exactly why I did it. It was my mission to kill.”

_**He was a liar and a killer all along.** _

“I-I don’t understand what you’re saying… and you’re starting to look… different.” Yuki said, backing away slowly.

“...Sorry for keepin’ quiet… but since Mikado said it’s okay, I think it’s time I said it out loud to all of you.”

“S-Say… what out loud?”

_**The truth.** _

“I’m sure this will be quite difficult to take in but… I must reveal that Hajime is in fact a proud member of _Void."_

_**Void. That word again.** _

“...V-Void?” I stuttered.

_**Void.** _

“Didn’t he just make that up for his hero persona?”

_**Void.** _

“Heh… that’s right. I’m workin’ for Mikado, the mastermind behind this whole killing game.” Hajime laughed again.

“You’re shitting me!!! This has to be a lie!” Shinji yelled.

“...It’s not a lie, this fact perfectly explains Hajime’s strange behavior. It was all planned out from the start…” Kokoro said.

“Does that mean everything he did… e-everything we know about him for… it was an act…?”

_**I don’t believe who he is was an act. But… I guess him being on our side was.** _

And suddenly, the Hajime we knew returned.

“I told you didn’t I? If I told you why I killed you’d all hate me even more! I was trying to be a nice guy by quickly getting myself off stage… This didn’t need to happen.” He said.

“Hajime… you were really on the mastermind’s side… all this time…?” I looked him straight in the eyes.

But he didn’t do the same- he turned his head to the side, it was like he couldn’t handle facing me as he spoke. “...That’s right, I was on the mastermind’s side from the very beginin’. I’ve been working for Mikado for a long time before I came to this island…”

“The world famous boxing star; Hajime Makunouchi, working with a huge criminal organization…? Normally, this would be an amazing headline but…” Nikei was in shock.

_Everyone was._

“HAJIME!!!!!!! What the hell do you mean?! Why was it your mission to kill someone?!” Shinji shouted, tears in his eyes.

_**How could he not cry? His best friend is a killer, and a liar.** _

“...It’s very likely they coordinated this event in advance. ‘You must kill someone to escape the island’. That’s easier said than done. It was very likely this killing game would reach a deadlock… Hajime’s mission was to break that deadlock by committing the first murder if no one else did, correct?” Kokoro asked.

_Did he not have a choice…?_

We did indeed plan everything in advance. And I would have been so amazingly happy if someone besides Hajime had murdered, but… the harsh truth is that life isn’t that cooperative…” Mikado sighed, truly disappointed,

“...That conversation at the diner yesterday…! Do you remember when Yuri said the motives here were weak? Back then Mikado said something about how a murder might occur… because the killing game was structured so that someone would kill…” Setsuka said.

“T-This is what he meant…? Hajime was working for the mastermind as he hid among us… s-so that if one of us didn’t murder he would… have to do it himself…” I wrapped my arms around myself.

_He didn’t have a choice._

“Well, you know, since we’ve crossed this threshold… I might as well stab the dagger of despair even deeper into these fresh wounds. Allow me to reveal one last painful truth to all of you… Hajime and myself are not the only members of Void. Myself included, Void consists of a total of five members… and all five of them are in this courtroom at this very moment. Do you fully comprehend what this means...?”

My blood ran cold, my eyes stuck open. Sweat dripping down my face.

**...This isn’t over… this isn’t the last killing. More lives will end.**

**Maybe even mine.**

“Th...there's more people here working for you besides Hajime…” I whispered. 

“N-No way, who are they?!”

“As you may have expected, I cannot reveal such information. However, I can inform you the late Yuri Kagarin was not a member of Void. Ah, but it really is disappointing you know? Had Yuri lived longer, this school trip would’ve been even more interesting.” Mikado sighed.

“Had no choice. It was to create a conflict of men versus women for the exact reproduction. Killin’ Yuri was the only way to do that. Him dying as a fact alone would be enough. As expected, it stirred up theories of a woman being the culprit.” Hajime said.

“Hajime… don’t tell me that’s the sole reason you killed Yuri…”

“You listenin’ Shinji? My mission was to kill someone, all I had to do was choose who. Of course I had to come up with the whole murder plan and everythin’ else too… That was a lot of work and it was a lot of weight to hold on my shoulders. I tried my best to win, I really did… but I guess I just couldn’t beat the combined minds of 14 people… Besides, it would have been a whole new problem if I won anyways…”

_**...What do you mean?** _

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed through the courtroom.

“Y-YOU BASTAAARRRRDDD!!”

“Huh?”

“Big bro! No violence!”

Shinji ran straight towards Hajime, clearly ready to attack.

“ _H-Hajime! Watch out!_ ”

“I quickly let go of Yoruko and ran towards the two males.

_**Even if he’s a liar.** _

_**Even if he’s a traitor.** _

_**Even if he’s a killer.** _

_**…** _

_**He still saved my life that first night on the island.** _

_**And that’s something I can never forget.** _

_**So despite everything…** _

_**I can never hate Hajime Makunouchi.** _

_**And if he’s about to die anyways.** _

_**I may as well thank him somehow before he’s gone.** _

I quickly got in between them, ready to stop Shinji, and as soon as he got close enough, I tried to push him back.

But I was too small…

My feet slid against the floor as I shoved his chest the best I could, but it did nothing.

I'm too _weak..._

I was shoved to the ground, hitting my head on the cold floor, flinching as the rope burns on my palms had touched it too.

_**Failure.** _

Suddenly I heard a thud.

Hajime had knocked out Shinji, who was now unconscious on the floor, with a single punch.

“You fuckin’ nuts? Who are you to shove (Y/n) and challenge the Ultimate Boxer?”

Hajime turned towards me and walked over, offering his hand for me to take, “You okay?”

I stared at him for a moment, before my eyes narrowed and, despite the pain of my burn, I slapped away his hand and stood up on my own.

**I don’t need to accept his help anymore.**

**It's over.**

“Hajime Makunouchi! Violating the rules is unacceptable!” Monocrow said.

Hajime stood up with a sigh and walked away from me, “...It really doesn't matter anymore, my job here is done, just vote already.”

“What about big bro? He can’t vote! Hajime knocked him out!” Yuki said.

“Hmm… I will make an exception this time- now vote! Writing out class trials in this Hajime x Reader is really exhausting!”

“Let’s… just get it over with.”

Just as we returned to our seats and were about to press the button with Hajime’s name on it, we were interrupted.

...

“Wait.” Kokoro said.

“Ugh. What is it now?” Hajime crossed his arms and gave her an annoyed look.

“(Y/n)?”

“Huh?”

_Why does she wanna talk to me…?_

“...It’s time you reveal what happened when you woke up at the top of the bell tower. I could tell by the tone of your voice something happened. We figured out it was Hajime who planned the crime… but it’s time we truly reveal the one who, unknowingly, ended the life of Yuri Kagarin.”

I froze. Hand still hovering over the button with Hajime's name, Eyes wide.

_**The tower…** _

_**I tried…** _

_**I failed…** _

_**To save Yuri…** _

“...(Y/n)? What is Kokoro talking about?” Hajime asked, everyone else looking confused as well- including Mikado.

“This morning… on the tower… when I woke up I… I witnessed Yuri being pulled up… and I witnessed him being dropped too… but I didn’t see his body until I went down stairs with Sora, Yuki, and Yoruko…”

“Seriously (Y/n)?! You saw the crime happen and didn’t bring it up?! That was big evidence! Are you brain dead?” Kanade asked with the most irritated tone I've ever heard.

“N-no! I guess I just… couldn’t comprehend what I witnessed at the time… I was just so set on trying to save Yuri I-”

“Hold on, (Y/n)... you tried to save Yuri?” Sora interrupted me with a shocked look.

“Yeah… I grabbed the rope once he started falling and tried to stop him… but… I’m too weak to save a life I guess…” I said as I began to tear up.

“...So you were the last person to touch the rope?”

“Yes…?”

“...(Y/n)... that means you… are the blackened.”

…!

_**I’m… the true blackened…?** _

“W-what kind bullshit are you talkin’ about?! (Y/n) isn’t the blackened! I am! We just clarified this remember?! She was just on the tower to trick you! She’s fuckin’ innocent!” Hajime yelled.

“...Hajime… You're not the blackened. You simply ruined your entire plan because of the unnecessary step of framing (Y/n).” Kokoro said.

“ _I-I killed… Yuri Kagarin?_ ”

_There was nothing else I was able to say or think. I was the culprit all along. I tried to save a life. But I didn’t._

_**I ended one.** _

“So (Y/n) was the culprit after all…?” Hibiki asked.

“What is going on…”

“ _I killed… Yuri Kagarin… I’m a killer… I killed him…_ ”

“N-no! Of course you didn’t! (Y/n) it wasn’t you- Someone fuckin’ speak up and tell the girl she’s not the damn culprit!" Hajime yelled, pointing at multiple people in the room.

“...Hey (Y/n), may I see your hands for a moment?” Kanade asked, finally pulling me out of my trance.

“...huh?”

“Your hands, let me see them.”

O-oh… okay…”

I left my podium and walked over to Kanade, holding my hands out towards her, revealing my rope burn to the class. Kanade then grabbed my hands as she inspected them.

“...Ah… I see…”

“What is it Kanade?” Sora asked.

“(Y/n) definitely pulled on that rope, so it’s not a lie, she’s got rope burn on both hands, see? But if you look close, you can see the burn is not as severe as it should be in the case of her trying to pull up a rope, clearly there was something on top of the rope to slow it down a bit!” Kanade explained.

“So… she is the culprit? Or is she not?” Nikei asked, raising an eyebrow.

“...(Y/n)... we all know there wasn’t any furniture up there… so tell me… be honest… were you the last person to touch the rope?” Kokoro asked.

…!

  
  
  


_**Yoruko...** _

_**The rope...** _

_**I put Yoruko on top of the rope...** _

_**But I tripped...** _

"I…"

“Tell the truth, (Y/n), we’re relying on you…” Kokoro gave me a sympathetic smile.

_**It’s Yoruko… or everyone else.** _

“...I… I put Yoruko on the rope to help me hold on… but that didn't work very well…”

_**What am I doing?** _

“I tripped and let go… because she was on top of it…”

_**She was there for me. We were victims together.** _

_**I wish we were.** _

“She was the last person to touch the rope…”

“Thank you, (Y/n).”

“...I’m… the blackened?”

_**I’m sorry, it should be me.** _

_**I’m a failure.** _

“H-how can we be so sure this is true!” Hibiki asked.

“It is… I can 100% guarantee… if you want to live… I'm afraid it is Yoruko who we must part with.” Kokoro sighed.

“...What?” Hajime said.

…

I quickly turned to look at my best friend. She stared at the ground, eyes wide, tears falling.

She knew it was true too.

“O-oh… I see… so I was the killer… by accident…”

_**Don’t say that. You don’t deserve this. Stop it.** _

_**...Death doesn't matter now.** _

_**I don't care.** _

_**Just don't let the only person I know cares for me die.** _

“NonononononoNO! STOP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! I’M THE BLACKENED! I LET YURI FALL! IT’S ME! NOT YORUKO, NOT HAJIME! VOTE FOR ME! I DESERVE TO BE EXECUTED! I DESERVE TO DIE! I’M AN IMPERFECT FAILURE WHO CAN'T EVEN MAKE A GOOD CHOICE! JUST VOTE AND KILL ME ALREADY!!!” I screamed, tears streaming down my face.

**_I can’t handle this._ **

“N-no… No (Y/N) STOP SAYIN’ THAT CRAZY SHIT RIGHT NOW AND VOTE FOR ME!” Hajime yelled.

“Wh-who do we choose!? I’m so confused!” Iroha said in a panic.

“...We know the one who planned the murder, the unintentional accomplice, and the unknowing blackened… we know who to choose…” Kokoro said, silencing everyone.

“Alright! If everyone is ready! Time to vote!” Monocrow said.

“NO! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT-”

“(Y/n) ENOUGH! Get it together! You’re not the goddamn blackened!”

“LET’S VOTE ALREADY!”

I frantically hit the button with my name while everyone else chose a different one. I hoped that maybe, just maybe, hitting it enough times would work…

  
  


VOTES:  
  
Sora - 0

Yuki Maeda - 0

 ~~Yuri Kagarin~~

Hajime Makunouchi - 1

Kokoro Mitsume - 0

Emma Magorobi - 0

Setsuka Chiebukuro - 0

Hibiki Otonokoji - 0

Kanade Otonokoji - 0

Shinji Kasai - 0

Nikei Yomiuri - 0

Mikado Sannoji - 0

Syobai Hashimoto - 0

(Y/n) (L/n) - 1

Iroha Nijiue - 0

Yoruko Kabuya - 13

**But it didn’t.**

“Correct! The blackened is Yoruko Kabuya, The Ultimate Hostess!”

…

I turned to Yoruko, who was shaking, eyes full of fear.

I ran over to her as fast as possible, pulling her into the tightest hug ever,

“Y-Yoruko… YORUKO I’M SO SORRY…! I SWEAR IF I KNEW- I-I NEVER WOULD HAVE USED YOU LIKE THAT! I’M SO STUPID! I VOTED FOR MYSELF! YOU DESERVE TO LIVE NOT ME-”

I felt Yoruko hug me back.

“Enough (Y/n)! It’s not your fault… It was a mistake… I’m not angry at you… I promise…"

All I could do was feel my heart break.

_**Yoruko was about to die.** _

"...do me a favor, will you?” She said quietly.

...!

“O-Of course! A-anything!” I sobbed, my tears dripping all over her scarf.

She whispered in my ear, “...Please, take my place in the group, take care of everyone, survive, and don’t shut anyone out anymore… stay strong for me, okay?

“Y-yes, I promise… I won’t let you down-!”

After the words left my mouth… I felt Yoruko stop shaking, and smile against my shoulder, "That's the (Y/n) we all _love."_

_**Love...?** _

The hug lasted another second, before a collar attached to a chain shot out of nowhere, and wrapped around Yoruko’s neck, pulling her away.

Everyone screamed as she was pulled into darkness.

“YORUKO NO!”

I screamed, falling to the ground, wrapping my arms around myself as I sobbed, watching Yoruko’s execution on the TV. My eyes couldn’t leave the screen no matter what.

...

...

...

...

...

Once Yoruko was dead, the screen shut off and It was silent. I stared at the floor, unable to do anything.

“T-that… Yoruko is…”

“Dead…”

“She’s dead… she’s dead… she was killed in the most horrible way possible, because i’m a **_fucking_** failure.” I cursed.

_I cursed._

_**I cursed.** _

“Why of course! We only have the most painful and horrible executions there are! If only you could have seen Hajime’s, his death would’ve been spectacular...!” Mikado said.

“My death…? What are you talking about…?” Hajime asked, turning to face the wizard.

“Hm? You don’t think you were going to live, did you? Void or not, you’re still participating in the killing game, are you not?”

“You… you fuckin’ psycho! You’re joking right?”

“No, I’m afraid not. You know the rules, how silly of you to believe you wouldn't be punished for murder… well, I guess you didn’t kill so… no punishment. You are free to continue participating in the killing game!”

“So you were just lying the whole time!? You were just gonna let us die if we kill?!”

“Mm, pretty much yes, but as a Void i’m included on that list- don’t think I get special privileges in this game.”

“You asshole! I’m not workin’ for you anymore! I never wanted to kill in the first place! You made me!”

“Hmm, whatever. You may have failed your mission as the first killer, but you were unaware so you didn’t betray orders, so no need for punishment. But your mission was completed by someone else so you have no need to kill unless you choose to. But just because I won’t force you to ‘try again’ doesn't mean you can just leave the Void because you still know the plan… in fact… Monocrow, I propose a new rule!”

“And what might that be Mikado?”

“No Voids are allowed to speak of information about the reason behind this killing game (even if they no longer have a place in the plan) to anyone outside of Void or else they, along with the person who was spoken to, will be executed!"

“...Very well, I will add that to the rules right away.”

“Thank you so much Monocrow!” 

“...This… this is bullshit! Why…?” Hajime spoke to himself.

“...I think it’s time we leave the courtroom. It’s late and best we head to bed, c’mon Hibiki-” Setsuka said.

“Suddenly, Hibiki pushed Setsuka away, “Don’t touch me you Void.”

“Hibiki?”

“DIDN’T YOU GUYS HEAR?! MIKADO SAID THERE ARE 5 VOIDS IN THIS VERY ROOM AND WE DON”T KNOW WHO 3 OF THEM ARE. THEY COULD KILL US AT ANY MOMENT- HAJIME AND MIKADO CAN TOO! SO DON’T TALK TO ME! ANY OF YOU!”

Hibiki grabbed Kanade and pulled her out of the courtroom.

I stayed on the ground, arms wrapped around myself as I cried.

_**Yoruko…** _

_**Yoruko is dead because of me…** _

_Stop it._

_Don’t blame yourself._

_**Why not?** _

_Yoruko doesn't want you to._

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder as someone sat down next to me, “Hey, let’s get you back to your room.”

_**Don’t listen to Hajime, he’ll kill you.** _

_Remember your promise. Stop shutting everyone out._

_**He doesn't count. He's a Void.** _

...

“O-okay…" I stood up with him and he put his arm around me as we began to leave the room.

“Where do you think you’re going with (Y/n)...!”

We both turned our heads to see Yuki, staring at Hajime and I.

“I’m taking her to her room, what does it look like?” He responded. 

“It looks like you might be planning to kill her…” Nikei shrugged.

“And why would I do that?” Hajime asked, clenching his teeth.

“You’re a Void, remember? Your mission was to kill, not to mention you framed (Y/n) when you tried to kill Yuri too, it would make sense she'd be your next target…” Nikei said.

“Hey, shut the fuck up will you?! I wouldn't-” Hajime yelled, sounding extremely pissed off.

“...Hajime, I think it would be best If I took her back to her room, just to be safe… everyone is shaken up and we don’t know if we can trust you right now.” Setsuka said, walking over to us and taking my hand.

She pulled me away from Hajime, but I didn’t object.

_**I can’t mentally function right now.** _

_**I can’t fulfill Yoruko’s promise tonight. I don’t have the strength.** _

_Tomorrow I will become a new person._

_I’ll protect everyone- no matter what._

**End of Chapter 1**

**14 remain**


	13. Chapter 2 - A Cursed Legend - 1

_“Mikado Sannoji! I’m gonna kill you!”_

_“Hm? What seems to be the problem?”_

_“Don’t ask us ‘What’s the problem?’ You already know why we’re here! Why did you say you were going to kill Hajime?!”_

_“This wasn’t part of the plan, you didn’t tell us about this beforehand!! We were promised safety when this plan began and the fact that you were going to kill Hajime is a serious breach of that promise.”_

_“Is that what you’re worried about? To think you would come here at midnight just for that…”_

_“Just for that…?!”_

_“Do you understand how risky it is to have three people come to my monitor room at once? Even at night, it’s just far too risky…even I'm not allowed to be in here. If a murder were to occur right now, we’d all be punished for breaking the rules. Not only would we be completely spoiled as to who the culprit is, we’d be cheating, as far as I'm concerned…. Let’s leave this to Monocrow, we’re leaving this room right away.”_

_“Now hold on just a second, Mikado. Don’t change the subject. You better be able to tell us why you betrayed us.”_

_“And if I can’t? What will you do? Kill me?”_

_…!_

_“Go on then. Don’t worry, I won’t fight back. If you would like to, please feel free to kill me.”_

_...._

_“I guess you can’t bring yourselves to do it. Not surprising, really. You know that if I die here, the entire plan will be ruined. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to leave this island without me anyways, ahaha…”_

_“...Damn…”_

_“I was born for this plan. Thus, I am prepared to die for it at any time as well. But you three? You’re all shaken up by something as simple as the fact Hajime ‘could have been killed’? If you’re ready to kill, then you must be prepared to die.”_

_…_

_“So, what about all of you? Hajime tried to kill but, clearly, he’s not ready to die.”_

_“...But, this isn’t what we promised… You didn’t say we would die for real…”_

_“Die for real… alright, let’s suppose we proceed with fake murders and executions from now on. Would our plan really succeed, from something so perfunctory? What if the plan fails because of it? What will we do then? This is our last chance, that foundation has already trapped us in a dead end. And if this safest yet most delicate plan ends in failure… You may live on, but can you say you’d truly be living without_ **_his_ ** _powers?”_

_…_

_“This is the scenario that you’ve suggested. I needed this plan to be perfectly realistic, I can’t tolerate even a fraction of an error. Think about this carefully… were my actions a mere betrayal? Or a sacrifice for the greater good…?”_

_…_

_“Now if you understand, let us leave this place. Even for a secret meeting this place is dangerous. Hurry now, before we’re found by Monocrow.”_

_…_

_…_

_…_

_“What are we going to do? We couldn’t even get a word in, and there’s no way we can fight him.”_

_“...I hate to admit it, but Mikado’s right. We won’t have a future if the plan fails, whether we survive or not. That includes Hajime too.”_

_“But is it worth the risk of our lives…? It won’t matter anymore if we’re dead…”_

_“Either way, we’ll be facing death. It’s too late to turn back now.”_

_“We chose to be members of Void, we need to contribute our efforts into making the plan succeed.”_

_“...Even if that means our death.”_

_…_

_“Hey, uh… who’s supposed to go next?”_

_“...Uh… Do you think we could wait a bit? If I kill now… i’ll be d-dead for sure… I need time to mentally prepare myself…”_

_“It’d be nice if someone could commit the murders for us… But I wonder if it could really be that easy…”_

_“It won’t be, besides, it’s better if we keep the order… if Hajime doesn't plan to kill again, that is.”_

_“I don’t know if this will help but,_ **_i’ll keep an eye on her_ ** _. Talent wise, I’m most suited for the task.”_

_“H-Hey! Just because it isn’t your turn it doesn't mean-”_

_“Hey! Come on, save it for later. We can’t be here too much longer. Everything will be ruined if we’re spotted now.”_

  
  


__ _ _ _ __

  
  


_**"Mr. and Mrs. (L/n), we have a few questions to ask!"** _

_**"Yes?"** _

_**"Where do you see the future of the (L/n) dessert company going after leaving the Yutaka Hospital? And do you feel sadness in having to leave that behind?"** _

_**"The Yutaka hospital was going to be shut down soon, after what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Yutaka just months ago... it was inevitable. Of course we plan to extend our business beyond the cafeteria of a hospital- we've planned for a long time, actually."** _

_**"Yes, yes, and what is that plan if we may ask?"** _

_**"As of next year, we will open the first (L/n) sweet shop in the city, and soon, if all goes as planned, we will be able to open more."** _

_**"Yes, and do you plan to donate some of your money- perhaps even some desserts to other local hospitals in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Yutaka?"** _

_**"Oh of course! Of course! In fact we, along with our talented daughter (Y/n), have a goal to donate to every hospital in Japan in the future, it's the least we can do to honor them."** _

_**"Really? We had no idea you had a daughter! She's a dessert chef too, yes?"** _

_**"She is! And she's a very talented little girl too! It would be no surprise to us if (Y/n) (L/n) became the Ultimate Dessert Chef in the future!"** _

_..._

_..._

_..._

“It is officially 7:00am. Wake up everyone! I hope you all have a vigorous and comfortable day.”

The morning announcement had gone off.

But I was already awake.

I had fallen asleep as soon as Setsuka took me back to my room. 

I was surprised I was actually able to sleep after the events that took place the night before…

  
  
  


**_Hajime’s a Void…_ **

**_Yoruko is dead…_ **

**_And soon, others will die too…_ **

  
  
  


...No, I can’t think about this, I can’t keep letting these dark thoughts control me. 

_Today i’m a new person._

_Today i’ll investigate._

_Today I start my plan to find a way off this island._

I turned on my handbook to see the notification that new rules were added.

One in particular I recall from last night… with a new detail.

_‘No Voids are allowed to speak of information about the reason behind this killing game (Even if they no longer have a place in the plan) to anyone outside of Void or else they, along with the person told will be executed.'_

_…How fantastic…_

_I guess the idea of somehow convincing Hajime to reveal anything is completely out of the question…_

_..._

_...Unless I can find a loophole._

I turned off my handbook and decided it would be best to head to the diner. Everyone is probably there already.

I made my way to the diner and opened the door to see… barely anyone.

The only people sitting at the table were Setsuka, Yuki, Kanade, Sora, Iroha, and Nikei.

“Ah… good morning (Y/n).” Sora said as everyone turned to look at me.

“Did you sleep well?” Kanade asked.

“This is the first time I've seen you alone Kanade… where’s Hibiki?” 

“Oh… I asked her to come to breakfast, but she isn’t willing to trust anyone anymore… so she told me to go alone.”

“...I guess I can’t blame her doing that after what happened yesterday…” I sighed, taking the empty seat next to Sora, “...Hey, why is everyone eating food from the store? Did Mikado not make breakfast?”

“We haven’t seen Mikado since the trial yesterday. Couldn't find him anywhere.”

“Oh…”

I grabbed one of the boxed lunches at the table and began to eat.

It was nothing compared to Mikado’s cooking… but I really didn’t care right now.

I just cared about the well being of the others around me.

“Um… everyone’s being so gloomy… Oh! Did you all notice? Yuri’s corpse and the crime scene is completely cleaned up! Fascinating, isn’t it?” Kanade said, trying to break the tense silence.

“...Did you really need to bring that up while everyone is eating?”

...

“U-um… guys… about what Hajime said yesterday… is it because of the whole ‘Void’ thing that everyone is so gloomy right now…? Because besides Mikado and Hajime there are still three more among us…?” I decided it was a topic we should talk about.

“Of course that’s why we’re gloomy, did you really have to spell it out?” Yuki asked.

“Then once we know who the members of Void are, we’ll be able to go back to normal?” Sora sighed.

“Wait, there’s a way to know who’s a member of Void. We can ask Kokoro about it! Kokoro was able to… figure out everything that happened… yesterday… right? So, um she should be able to tell us!” I exclaimed.

I need to help.

“…(Y/n), I know you don’t know this since you left the trial grounds early, but… we all thought the same thing as you.” Yuki said.

“Oh…”

“We tried asking Kokoro that question but she has been refusing to talk to us since the trial…. She said she needed some time to herself…”

“There’s another issue too, what if Kokoro ends up being a member of Void? It’s like Mikado said ‘All five of them are right here in this courtroom at the moment.’ As long as we don’t know who the Void are, it can be anyone except the already deceased Yoruko and Yuri.” Setsuka mentioned.

“...Then are we just going to let things be awkward like this from now on? If three of us are members of Void that only gives us even more of a reason to work together!” I said to them all.

**_Why can’t they understand me?_ **

“Easier said than done. We can only work together if we know who the Void members are.”

“Nikei…” 

“And personally, I think Sora is most likely a Void.”

_...What?_

“Excuse me?” Sora said, glaring at Nikei.

“Well, you said you have amnesia, but we don’t know who you are or even what your talent is. Isn’t that fishy? For all we know, you’re faking your amnesia to hide the fact you’re a dirty member of Void.”

“Nikei! You’ve been seriously getting on my nerves since I first learned your name! I know we can’t trust everybody! But, calling people out is making things worse!” I said, crossing my arms.

_How dare he say that to Sora._

“...Oh, but avoiding everyone and treating them like garbage when we were all still confused isn’t making things worse?”

“I…"

…

“Maybe… maybe you’re both members of Void? ‘(Y/n) (L/n) stands up for her fellow Void comrade, the mysterious amnesiac Sora…’ My, my…. What a scoop…”

_Why are you making this so difficult!_

“Ah!! I don’t even know what to say to you! That’s so stupid!” I yelled, I’ve never felt more irritated in my life.

“Is this who you really are, Nikei?” Setsuka asked, “Bullying others and looking down on everyone? Where did your high spirits and naiveness go? Was that all an act? Why are you acting so weird?”

“I think you guys are the weird ones here, acting all calm like nothing happened yesterday… The very person sitting next to you could be a Void, are you really okay with that? A cool headed mind and suspicion for anyone and everything is natural for a journalist like me, alright?”

“Nikei, if you’re gonna act like this-”

“Everybody stop…!!”

…

Everyone’s attention shifted to Iroha who was crying.

“I just want to think positively… I need to think positively… e-everybody is fighting… and being angry… and i’m just so confused…”

…

“She’s right, everyone is too worked up right now. I’ll bring my sister so everyone should calm down a bit…” Kanade said.

**_...I need to get out of here. The negative energy in this room is suffocating… any excuse…_ **

...

I grabbed one of the healthier looking boxed lunches and stood up, “...Alright… I’m going to bring breakfast to Hajime.”

_Who else is going to do it anyways?_

“Oh, of course, only a Void would help another Void.”

…

_**This stupid man needs to shut up.** _

“Stop it Nikei. I made a promise to Yoruko to take care of you all, so stop making it so difficult for me to do that...!”

...

...

...

I didn’t spare him another glance as I turned to leave the diner.

**_Why is it so hard to help people?_ **

Before I knew It I stood before Hajime’s room. I hadn’t been near the boy’s dorms before- then again… the only places on the ship I have been to are my own room, the diner, and… the courtroom…

I was hesitant to knock on the door.

  
  


_Why am I being like this?_

_He doesn’t want to die…_

_So it’s not like he’s going to hurt me…_

  
  


_**...Right?** _

  
  


I took a deep breath before raising my fist.

  
  


_Knock knock_

_…_

_Knock knock_

…

Just as I was about to knock again, the door opened and Hajime stood before me- he looked exhausted.

...I guess he did stay awake all night when he was trying to-

“(Y/n)? What are you doing here?” Hajime asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“O-oh! I um… I brought you some food since I didn’t see you at the diner so... uh…” I trailed off, I was unsure how I should finish my sentence, so I just held the food out for him to take.

This felt weird... I was talking to someone who tried to commit murder just yesterday.

He accepted the food and smiled “Thanks, (Y/n). I… didn’t really expect anyone to wanna talk to me, I was plannin’ on going to the diner when everyone left.” 

…

**Don’t act like an idiot. Don’t ask him directly, he might say no. If you want to get your plan rolling, you need to think before you speak-**

_Lol, like that’s gonna happen, ask him dumbass._

  
  


“Um… after you eat… would you like to investigate with me…? I haven’t done it before and I assumed you probably want to escape too… right?” I asked.

He smiled a little bit, like he didn’t expect me to ask… but there was also an unsure look on his face… as if he was trying to choose between two different things within his mind.

…

“...Sure, I’d love to… how about we meet at the entrance of the ship after I eat?” He asked.

_He actually agreed…?_

_I didn’t think he’d say yes after what happened yesterday…_

…

I studied him for a moment… he really did look tired… kind of… upset too… he didn’t seem like himself… well, he still looked really hot but-

_**Wait- um, excuse me brain, what the fuck?** _

“Uh, (Y/n)? Is that okay…?”

I snapped out of my thoughts and saw Hajime was staring at me with a confused look on his face.

_Oh shit, he said words, right, I forgot responding was a thing._

I felt my face heat up and I stuttered.

“Y-yeah! Sure! Of course! Cool! Mmhmm! S-see you then!” I said as I quickly turned around and walked away, being too awkward to actually continue a conversation.

I just wasn’t paying attention, I was just distracted, why am I so embarrassed?! It’s not like it was a big deal!

**_The Ultimate Dessert Chef? More like The Ultimate Dumbass Chef._ **

...I should get that on a T-shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nikei: Ah, yes, it is time for me to become the ultimate asshole.


	14. Chapter 2 - A Cursed Legend - 2

I waited patiently by the front of the Monocruise… or tried to wait patiently.

Hundreds of thoughts were swimming through my mind- was I seriously trying to start a plan that I haven’t even completely thought through? How do I begin a plan that I have only come up with the conclusion for? And an unlikely conclusion at that…

I need to be more organized… a skill that I _definitely_ don't have.

…

Maybe I should-

  
  


“Hey, (Y/n)?”

  
  


I turned around to see Hajime had arrived.

“Oh! Um, hi Hajime! What brings you here?”

“...You asked me to meet you?”

“O-oh! Right! Sorry… i’m just a little out of it today, you know, tired.” I said, trying to recover from my embarrassing greeting.

“Okay, so you wanted to investigate together?”

“Yes! I did! Do you want to look around the park or something…? Or… somewhere that hasn’t been explored?” I asked, awkwardly playing with my hands.

Only now had it occurred to me that because my stubborn self had decided to avoid everyone for like three or four days- I have no idea which places have yet to be explored. 

“You know what? How about we just take a walk… I’d like to talk with you.”

I felt a bit intimidated by Hajime’s words… he wants to walk together? _Alone_?

**_Where he can kill me?_ **

_No, (Y/n), stop it._

_He won’t._

“Yeah, sounds great.” I smiled, but it wasn’t genuine. 

None of my smiles for him were. Not anymore.

He held out his hand, as if waiting for me to hold it. I could imagine our fingers intertwined as we walked down the road, passing the guest house, the store…

_The bell tower._

His hand looked warm and inviting- but I couldn’t take it. 

I looked at the ground and began to walk ahead of him towards the palm trees, I could hear him sigh and begin to walk behind me.

…

**_Why is it so hard to stay positive? To take care of everyone and make them happy? To love others and myself?_ **

**_What happened to the girl I once was?_ **

**_The girl who was confident in herself and never afraid to speak the truth, the girl who loved herself more than anything and smiles were what she loved to wear most?_ **

**_That girl is gone._ **

**_She left the moment she woke up on this island._ **

**_Those days and that mindset feels fake now- as if it was a past that I never lived._ **

**_Who will I become now? Why can’t I be who Yoruko was? Why does everything feel so impossible?_ **

**_Why can’t I do it?_ **

**_Because I’m not supposed to be like Yoruko._ **

**_But I can’t fulfill her promise if i'm not._ **

**_Is there anything that can make this pain go away?_ **

…

…

…

“(Y/n), are you alright?”

I looked up to see Hajime standing in front of me.

“H-huh?”

“You’ve been standing still for almost ten minutes… and you’re crying.”

I reached up and felt the wet trails left by tears on my cheeks. Just the realization was enough to create more, my vision became distorted as my eyes welled up with tears, and quiet whimpers left my throat. My chest hurt- breathing was uncomfortable- existing felt uncomfortable- everything felt wrong.

“Hey, (Y/n), it’s okay...”

Hajime walked closer and I was wrapped in his arms.

I froze at the contact. It was different then before, somehow.

He ran his fingers through my (h/l) (h/c) hair while my face was pressed against his chest.

Just being this close didn’t feel close enough… so I hugged him tightly as well, clutching the back of his jacket tightly with my hands.

**_Why do I always give in when it comes to him?_ **

He must have taken that as a reason for him to hold me even closer to him and then…

...

...Did he just _kiss_ the top of my head?

...No… he wouldn’t…

_Unless…?_

Hajime pulled back a bit so we could look at each other, he reached down and softly ran his thumb over my cheek, wiping away my tears, “Feeling better?” He asked, moving his other hand to push back a strand of hair that was stuck to my face because of the tears.

**_No._ **

“Y-yeah…” I whispered, trying to prevent myself from breaking down again.

“...It’s okay to cry, (Y/n). Sometimes it's what you need.”

…

He’s right.

“...Thank you, Hajime.”

I’m not sure why, but I reached up and caressed his cheek, his skin was so soft... I wonder what color his eyes are…

...

...Why does his face feel hot…?

…

That’s when I noticed the surprised expression on his face- and I realized he was blushing, “O-oh, sorry.” I said, pulling my hand away.

“It’s fine… uh, do you want to continue our walk…?” He said, still blushing.

“Sure.”

_ _ _ _ _

Most of our walk was spent in silence, just exploring the beautiful looking island of despair we were trapped on- I’ll admit, very little ‘investigating’ was done throughout the day, for the most part I was trying to figure out how to speak about the reason behind the killing game with Hajime... without it resulting in death.

  
  


“(Y/n)?” 

  
  


Oh, he’s trying to talk to me. Time to speak words, “Uh, yes?”

  
  


“Thanks, for spending time with me… it doesn’t seem like anyone else is willing to give me a second chance right now.” Hajime sighed, looking genuinely sad- which made me feel a bit bad about my next words.

  
  


“You don’t actually believe I have forgiven you for doing what you did, do you?”

…

  
  


“...Hajime, you’ve been working for Mikado, and tried to kill Yuri- I can’t just automatically forgive you after that, so much happened yesterday… I’m still not over it… I’ll probably never be over it.”

…

“I may not be showing it, but I'm furious, Hajime.”

  
  


… _honesty is important._

…

_**Lies make things worse.** _

  
  


“...If you’re so angry, why would you even talk to me. All I've done is treat you bad. I attacked you and framed you for killin' Yuri- I even stole your candy bars.”

_Can I even explain…?_

“...I guess… I just don’t want to make things worse than they already are… if everyone’s going to treat you bad and avoid you... I…”

...

“...I hate being alone... I tried to be, but that didn’t work out. It hurts and… you shouldn't be alone either. I know you’re not a bad person- perhaps a morally gray one… but I don’t hate you. You weren't bad to me, you saved my life, and despite what you have done, caring for others is something I must do… and…"

I looked over at Hajime to see he listening to my words intently- I don’t know why, but it felt like I was talking to no one.

_No one but myself._

...

“...I’m not gonna fall apart anymore… I’m strong enough to grow and move on… I know I am… so moving on is what will be done.” 

…

“...You’re… really someone special, (Y/n)... I’m glad I met you.”

My heart skipped a beat at Hajime’s words, _he was glad to have met me?_

“...Thank you.”

…

…

…

“...Um, it’s starting to get late, wanna head back to the Monocruise with me?” Hajime asked, breaking the silence.

“Uh… not yet, I want to grab something at the mart, you go on ahead.” I said.

“Alright... bye (Y/n).” Hajime waved and walked towards the ship.

I turned away and headed to the mart- I knew exactly what I needed.

Stepping through the doors I walked over to one of the front aisles and I picked up a (f/c) notebook off of the shelf and examined it, flipping through the blank pages.

This is _perfect._

_ _ _ _ _

By this time, it was already dark outside and I walked towards the Monocruise, when I got to the front I saw…

_Syobai?_

“What are you doing out here?” I asked, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow.

“I could ask you the same thing. Can’t a guy smoke in peace?” Syobai asked.

I now noticed he was holding a cigarette, where did he even get those??? Don’t tell me those are at the mart too! The fact that there's alcohol and... other things... available is bad enough... 

“Smoking? Seriously? You’re a student! You shouldn’t be doing that! It’s not healthy for you!”

“Why are you looking out for a scumbag like me? Who are you, my mom?”

I rolled my eyes, does he always have to be an asshole?

“'Bad for your health’ my ass… you sound like that damn boxer boyfriend of yours.”

_Boyfriend?!_

“Eh?! W-what? Hajime is NOT my boyfriend! I don’t even like him!” I stuttered.

“Uh huh, whatever you say, Betty Crocker.” Syobai said as he finished his cigarette until- wait, Betty Crocker?!

“There, I'm done, happy now?”

Not until you get some help.

“Ugh…”

"Hey, I've got a question for you," Syobai began, "How are you so good with medical shit?"

...?

"Huh? What are you you talking about?"

"Don't act stupid, I've seen you clean and fix up your wound correctly like it's nothing- using and finding all the correct supplies and painkillers without any help, also you knew that was a specific kind of liquid anesthetic at the crime scene too- did you have some sort of medical training or something?" 

...

...

_...What?_

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I'd remember having medical training- So no, I haven't."

"...Hmph, bullshit." Syobai muttered.

_...Weird._

I rolled my eyes and walked away, not wanting to hang around him any longer… though something was strange about him…

_Was he scared about the Voids too?_

Suddenly I got a notification on my handbook. It was a message.

  
  


_+_+_+_+_

  
  


**CHAT ROOM**

  
  


**13 IN CHAT**

  
  


**Shinji Kasai has invited (Y/n) (L/n) and 11 other people.**

  
  


**Shinji Kasai**

**< ( Everybody listen. ) pm xx:xx**

**< ( There’s something I need to talk to you guys about. ) pm xx:xx**

**< ( Come to the music room on the first floor. ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Syobai Hashimoto has left the chat**

**Kokoro Mitsume has left the chat**

**Hibiki Otonokoji has left the chat**

**Setsuka Chiebukuro**

**< ( Shinji, you’re awake!!! ) pm xx:xx**

**Nikei Yomiuri**

**< ( What’s there to talk about? Lol. ) pm xx:xx**

**Kanade Otonokoji**

**< ( Sis… )**

  
  
  


**Kanade Otonokoji has re-invited Hibiki Otonokoji to the chat**

  
  
  


**Shinji Kasai**

**< ( Don’t be silly, come right now. I’ll be waiting for you all. ) pm xx:xx**

  
  
  


** Hibiki Otonokoji has left the chat **

  
  


**_+_+_+_+_**

  
  


…

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hajime: I wonder if (Y/n) is thinking about me.
> 
> (Y/n)'s mind: PONYO PONYO PONYO FISHY IN THE SEA-


	15. Chapter 2 - A Cursed Legend - 3

I entered the music room to see Sora, Nikei, Yuki, Setsuka, Emma, Iroha, the twins, and Shinji. Syobai, Mikado, Kokoro, and Hajime weren’t here though. Not that I was very surprised.

“So… What’s this thing you wanted to talk about, Shinji?” Setsuka asked as well all stood in the silent room, keeping a small distance between each other as if one would snap and murder another in an instant. 

“It’s almost night time, make it quick.” Emma said.

“...Is this everyone?” Shinji asked, scanning the nine other faces in the room.

“Kokoro’s avoiding us, we’re avoiding Hajime, Mikado and Syobai are doing the same as usual.... Obviously Yoruko and Yuri won’t be coming.” Sora sighed, leaning against the wall.

...

“Hmph, I'm more surprised ‘big sister’ Hibiki came. Didn’t you leave the chatroom?” Nikei asked, looking over at the twins.

“I didn’t wanna be here, Kanade begged me to come. That’s the only reason.” Hibiki snapped.

_She’s really angry..._

“Shinji, why did you gather all of us together like this?” Sora asked.

“I heard what happened after I got knocked out, Yuki told me everything… so everyone is avoiding Hajime, huh?” Shinji asked with a sigh.

“So what?! He’s a Void It serves him right! It’s because of him that we’re in this mess in the first place!”

**_This stupid girl…!_ **

“Hibiki, aren’t you going a bit too far?” I said calmly, trying to keep myself from sounding too hostile.

“What do you mean ‘too far’? You’re all the same!! There’s members of Void among us! Or am I misunderstanding, (Y/n)? Are you trying to defend Hajime’s actions because you’re a member of Void?!”

**_...How dare she go around and accuse me like this?_ **

**_First Nikei, now her?_ **

**_Is being a nice person always going to make me seem bad?_ **

**_Did they prefer the days when I shut them all out?_ **

“Excuse me?! You can’t just-”

“Quiet, you little brats.” Emma said to us.

**!**

“ _Little brats?_ ” I clenched my fists tightly after she spoke.

_Is she for real? What did I even do wrong?!_

“You’re not letting Shinji speak, we’re all suspicious of each other, so shut up and listen.”

“What did you say?!!”

“E-Everyone stop! Don’t fight!”

“Stop, stop, STOOOOOOPPPP!!!!!” Shinji yelled, successfully shutting everyone up.

…

“Ah, u-um… sorry for shouting so suddenly… that aside, it’s just as Yuki described to me. I didn’t see exactly what happened after the trial, but for things to turn out this way… you guys… when are you guys going to stop suspecting each other? We don’t have a single hint on who the members of Void might be, and yet you’re all ready to blame innocents.”

…

“Then what are our options?” Nikei asked, “We can’t just shake hands with people who have sided with the mastermind.”

...

“Sure we can, dumbass!”

“...Huh?”

“No! You’re the d-dumbass, Shinji! Are you out of your mind?! Make friends with the masterminds?!” Hibiki stuttered.

“...I was Hajime’s friend too, and as much as it hurts… it’s more important to think about what’s to come… Do you guys really think Hajime hates us and just wanted to kill us?”

“He really did try to kill Yuri…”

...

“...Nah, I don’t think he wanted to kill us.”

“W-what do you mean…?”

“...Come to think of it, he did say something after some others left the trial room… he said that he had made real friends, and that he felt bad for tricking us all…” Sora said.

_He said that…?_

_Hmm._

“Y-yeah, and he also said he didn’t have a choice… Does this mean… was he in a situation where he had no choice but to kill someone?” Yuki asked.

...

  
“That’s nonsense!! Who cares?! In the end he was still working with the mastermind!”

_Hibiki, you’re really getting on my nerves. Even more than Nikei. And that’s not a good thing._

“Still, I'm a bit surprised, Hajime only said that stuff after Shinji got knocked out, so how did you know?” Kanade said.

... _True._

“I know it by my body. My body’s experience actually tells me he was positive towards us.”

...What?

“Y-your body’s… experience…?”

“As his workout partner, I know how much strength Hajime had. If he had hit me with all his strength, trust me when I say I wouldn’t be here right now. He just hit me on the jaw, just light enough for me to faint.”

...What the hell?

“And you’re asking us to believe that? He could have just hit you lightly because he didn’t feel like going all out.” Nikei pointed out.

“No way! Hajime is a member of Void and he tried to kill Yuri, but I know he didn’t mean it!! I’m not good at thinking, so I don’t have any real proof… but when his fist hit me, I felt something…”

I seriously have no clue how to respond to this.

“Anyways, that’s my point! Even if there are three other members of Void among us… We can make them our friends so they all want to betray that bastard Mikado! We’ll be such good friends that they all feel too much guilt and have no choice but to betray him!”

_...I don’t know if that’s the best way to explain… but I guess it’s not the worst idea?_

_After all… it’s not exactly violating that one rule, and I’ve been doing something similar already…_

_But I have a feeling this plan is not going to be much of a success…_

“What are you talking about?! All that stuff about your body experience doesn’t make sense! Even if what you’re saying is true, we don’t know what the Voids are planning-”

“Wait, Hibiki. Shinji’s got a point.” Setsuka interrupted.

“Huh?”

“Shinji might not know because he was unconscious, but we all remember what Hajime said to Mikado, right?”

“Yeah, he seemed really angry at Mikado, as if Mikado betrayed him or something like that.” Kanade said.

...

“Come to think of it, Kokoro said Hajime wasn’t expecting that he would actually die if he killed Yuri… Mikado must have broken a promise to Hajime. That promise being the Voids wouldn’t get executed for murder.”

...

“Now put yourself in the shoes of the Void members, someone you thought was your ally broke a promise, and because of that, one of your partners was almost killed. Would you rather team up with the others to stop him? Or stay on his side?”

…

…

…

…

_... Is it wrong to say, **‘I’m not sure’?** _

“...You’ve got a point there. It certainly would be weird for the Void members to continue working for Mikado…” Nikei sighed.

_**...Would it really?** _

**_There are so many things we need to discuss before we just assume those things._ **

**_Why is nobody speaking about why they may need to kill?_ **

**_Or the fact that maybe betraying Mikado isn’t as simple as it sounds?_ **

**_What if the Voids have no possible way to escape him?_ **

**_What's the point of this plan they must take part in?_ **

**_Why did they join in the first place?_ **

**_Why are they making things sound simple without thinking any deeper into it?_ **

“I’ve been wanting to say something for awhile now… it’s been bugging me like crazy. Thankfully, Shinji here gave me the chance. You wanted to say something similar, right?”

  
“Ah, y-y-y-yep, you’re right Setsuka… after Yuki told me about the situation, I couldn’t leave it be… I’m sorry… I’m not very good with words…”

“Big bro… are you sure you’re okay with this? You were good friends with Hajime, are you really okay?”

“I’d be lying if I said I was… it hurts me a lot… but that just gives me a better reason to team up and fight against Mikado.”

...

“Let’s stop all these accusations and rally up again. If a murder were to happen because of our lack of trust in each other, we’d gain nothing. We can do this, It’s just as Shinji said; Void or not, we can all be friends.” Setsuka smiled.

…

Suddenly Monocrow appeared out of nowhere and landed on Iroha’s head.

“I agree completely, bravo! Classmates should get along with each other, don’t you agree?” the bird said.

“Eh!? Eeeeeeeek!! Why is it on my head!?” Iroha began to frantically hit Monocrow with her sketchbook, doing her best to knock him off.

“Ungh! That hurts!! Why would you hit me?!”

“W-woah! When did you get here?” Yuki asked.

“Like a true crow, I was lurking in the shadows… I was going to gather everyone to announce some news, but it seems like almost everyone is here… Very well! I shall make this the gathering grounds for today! Everyone, please wait a moment.”

Monocrow made an announcement for the rest of the students to meet here, and not even five minutes later, Syobai, Kokoro, and Hajime entered the room… but not Mikado?

“Splendid! Everyone’s here.” 

“What do you mean everyone!? Mikado’s not here!!” Shinji pointed out.

“Don’t worry. He’s already here. Moreover, it’s almost night time, so let’s get on with it without further ado. The reason I've assembled you… is because I have an important announcement.” Monocrow explained.

?

“An important announcement?” I asked.

“Mikado! This is your cue!”

Suddenly Mikado entered the room with a blindfolded man restrained by some… very scandalous objects.

For some reason I didn’t feel as shocked as I probably should have… 

“Ah, long time no see everyone. Has it been a day or so?” Mikado asked with a smile on his mask.

“Umph! Urmphh!!” The tied up man struggled to escape Mikado’s grasp… and failed to do so.

“Mikado!! Where have you been all this time? And… who’s that?”

Wait… he looks kind of familiar…

“W-what’s up with that guy!!”

“My sincerest apologies. There was some business I needed to attend.” Mikado chuckled.

“W-wait, haven’t we seen this guy before?” Hajime spoke up.

“W-what’s up with his body!? Is that bondage?!” Iroha asked.

“Ah, I was frustrated. Needed to get all this rage out of my body…”

Uh…

“Ummmmpph~!!”

  
  


…

  
  


_I hate this so much._

  
  


“H-hey!! First let him go, then talk!” Shinji yelled.

“Ah, I was just about to~ there.” Mikado said as he removed the blindfold and other scandalous items from the man’s body.

I knew I recognized him. It was that green haired man we saw on the first night before Mikado threw him into the sky…

_Wait how the hell did he survive that?!_

“Ha...Ha… Wh-what’s going on…? W-woah!? Where in tarnation am I!?” He said… wait was that an accent-

“ _In tarnation_?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A-ah, I did my accent accidentally…” The man said.

“Mikado, what is the meaning of all this?” Kokoro asked the wizard man who I wanted to punch so badly right now.

“Fufu… you were fighting each other while I was absent, yes? It’s pretty obvious. You really shouldn’t! Friends should get along, not fight each other…”

“You’re one to talk!! Technically you’re the reason we’re suspecting each other!!” I growled at Mikado's words.

“Yes, I do agree that the speech I gave you in the last trial was very unfair of me, if I do say so myself. Hajime’s cover was blown, and I got caught up in the moment and spilled all the information that I was going to give to you one by one… That ruined the balance. It’s far too early for you to be split. For that reason, I've brought you some hope that will surely help you.” Mikado gestured to the new man.

Or the kind of new man? We did see him on the first day so…

“Ahem, introducing! The newly appointed assistant guidance teacher to guide you along with me… The former Ultimate Merchant, Teruya Ootori! Welcome him with a big applause, everyone!” Monocrow announced.

“Yeah~ Welcome, teacher!” Mikado cheered… alone.

“W-wait, no. I don’t know what is going on right now…”

“The former Ultimate Merchant…? Teruya Ootori, as in the Teruya of the discount store chain ‘Ootori Mart’?” Yuki asked.

“What is that? Ootori Mart?”

“Oh I've heard of ‘Ootori Mart’ I think there was one in front of Yutaka hospital…” I said.

“Ah, it is a quite famous brand, actually.”

“Wait, uh, Mr. Ootori? Haven’t we met you on the first day on the island?” I asked, realizing it was something that should be brought up.

“He’s suspicious! Mikado brought him, so he must be Mikado’s comrade!”

...

“Now, everyone calm down.” Mikado said, “We aren’t friends, but more so enemies in fact. He’s part of that institution that has been tracking me down for years. To be honest, I have half a mind to kill him right here, right now.”

“H-huh? First time I've heard of you. Who are you? Wait, what? Remnant of despair…? What is… that? What am I even saying…” The man began speaking to himself.

**_He doesn't remember…?_ **

“Um, he doesn’t seem normal right now…” Yuki mumbled.

“Hmmm, guess we have a lot of questions to ask him as well-”

“Order, order, everyone! I know you’re all excited, but it’s almost night time, okay? Leave the talking for tomorrow, and get ready for bed everyone. Are you satisfied, Mikado?” Monocrow asked.

“Definitely. This has gotten much more interesting.”

“Ah, and one more announcement. Starting from next morning, our Monocruise will start sailing towards the second island. There might be some turbulence during your sleep, but please don’t mind it.”

_There's more than one island…?_

“Second island? What do you mean?” I asked.

“Ah, I forgot to mention. The stage for our school trip, ‘The Isle of Nowhere’, consists of five small islands. And everytime a class trial ends, we head towards a new island on the Monocruise.”

“Huh? So, this island is-”

“This is the first island. We can’t return after leaving this island, so be careful.”

“So that means if you don’t return to the Monocruise before night time, you get left out?” Syobai asked.

“No worries for that, Syobai. All residents are already here in this auditorium, correct? And I already locked all the doors. We’re going off at dawn, so I already took care of all measures.”

“Hmph… so, there’s no escape. That’s unfortunate. I was gonna scrape up the remaining crows before we head off.”

“It takes a whole day or more to sail between islands, it’s going to be a long trip, so rest up- Ah, and murder during this period of course is allowed. The class trial is inside the Monocruise, so no worries.”

“A-as if we were worried about something like that!!” I stuttered.

“Now then, it’s night time, so everyone should return to your dorms and chat later!” Monocrow said before flying away.

“What… what is going on here…”

“Hey, Mikado!! What’s up with this dude!!” Shinji gestured to Teruya.

“I told you, he’s the former Ultimate Merchant and assistant guidance teacher, Teruya Ootori. He’s the 9th graduate of the Hope’s Peak Academy, so he’s your upperclassmen. Fufu…”

“Upperclassmen?!”

“Are you kidding me!? You’re definitely lying!! Yeah, he’s a Void!! He’s a Void, I'm telling you!” Hibiki shouted.

“No… He’s not a Void.” Kokoro said.

“Kokoro’s right. Remember Mikado’s words? He said yesterday in the trial there were Voids amongst the people in here. So conversely speaking.” Setsuka agreed.

“So that means any person who wasn’t in that trial isn’t a Void?”

“Well, he’s suspicious enough even if he's not a Void.”

“Then why bring this guy? What are you up to?”

  
“It’s to keep balance, I told you. He can give you immense help… because he’s a _survivor_ of a _school killing game!_ ” Mikado announced.

**_...So there really has been more killing games…_ **

**_...More deaths..._ **

“...A s-school killing game?” I asked.

“Wait, what? How did you-”

“Woah, would you look at the time. You can ask Teruya himself about the details tomorrow. I’m going to head to bed for now. Goodnight everyone!” Mikado said before vanishing into thin air.

“Huh?! Woah! He disappeared!? Is he psychic?!” Teruya gasped in shock.

“It’s sort of refreshing to see that response when we’re so used to it now.” Iroha awkwardly laughed.

“...Mr. Teruya Ootori?” Kokoro spoke up.

“Huh… Yeah? What is it?” 

“I need to talk to you.”

…?

Suddenly Kokoro grabbed his arm and began to pull him down the hallway. “W-wait! Woah!”

“Hold up, Kokoro! We have questions too, you know? Where are you going!” I yelled.

“Leave her be, (Y/n). It’s already night time. A new teacher… A new island… I know it’s a lot to take in… But we need to finish talking. So, what’s it gonna be everyone?” Setsuka said.

“About what?”

“We were talking about what to do from now on. Are we really going to suspect each other like now?”

“S-s-s-setsuka, it’s alright. How about this… You guys, let’s head to bed for now since it’s late. Let’s resume this tomorrow morning. If, by any chance, you agree with our plans to get along with each other, head over to the cafeteria next morning… Those who don’t can choose not to come to the diner, or tell us about it. I know you’re all worried.” Shinji sighed.

And with that, everyone parted ways.

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


I sat on my bed and pulled out my new notebook and pen, opening to a random page in the middle.

This journal will be the key to escaping this killing game… I just need to figure out how to begin.

I decided to start by writing some random ideas, leaving blank areas to elaborate below once I gather my thoughts and put pieces together. Though it’s likely I won’t go through with most...

  
  
  
  
  
  


_**Plan A) Shinji’s plan.** _

_**Plan B) Investigate and figure out who the Voids are one by one.** _

~~_**Plan C) Commit murder and escape the killing game.** _ ~~

**15 Remain**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone: Who's that? Is he cool?  
> Monocrow: Teruya? He's cool.  
> (Y/n): Who's your favorite superhero?  
> Teruya: Uh Matilda?  
> (Y/n): ...Alright he's cool.


	16. Chapter 2 - A Cursed Legend - 4

I slowly walked down the hallway to the boy’s dorms, still very tired. I had stayed up very late writing in my journal… I really need to pay attention to time.

I yawned before finally stopping in front of a specific door, using my right hand to knock, while I used the left to clutch my journal and pen.

In a matter of seconds the door opened, and Hajime stood before me, seeming much more awake then I was.

“Good morning, Hajime.” I said, yawning again.

“Uh, yeah… are you okay (Y/n)? You seem really tired, did you have trouble sleeping last night?” he asked with a concerned look.

“Mmhmm, It was probably due to the boat moving last night, but i’ll be okay.”

“...Alright, but do your best to get better sleep once we get to the next island, okay? I don’t want you to feel like this everyday.”

“I will.” I gave him a small smile, “...Um, I was going to meet with everyone at the diner, you know, cause Shinji wanted us to if we agreed with his plan… and I wanted to ask if you were on board with it as well?” 

“Well… I don’t know if his plan will work, but… it would be nice to maybe patch things up with the others… if I even can.” Hajime sighed.

“Let’s just go, okay? It will be fine.” I reassured him and grabbed his hand to pull him along.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _

  
  


When Hajime and I entered the diner we could see five other people in the room.

“Good morning, everyone.” I said, causing the other five to look at us.

“Ah, (Y/n), Hajime. I had a feeling you would come.” Setsuka smiled at us.

“Setsuka, Sora, Shinji, Yuki… is this everyone?” Hajime asked as he glanced at the people sitting at the table.

“I-I'm here too!” Iroha stuttered.

...Can I just give her a hug?

“Sorry, we just didn’t expect you to come here after how you acted yesterday morning…” I said.

“Oh, well I've gotten a hold of myself after what Shinji said yesterday. After all, being positive is my strength! From this day forward, it’s back to Iroha the optimist!” Iroha said as enthusiastically as possible.

“How about you, Yuki? You seemed upset too…” 

“I-I agree with big bro… I mean of course i’m anxious but… If it’s the same for everyone, it should be better to follow big bro’s words and not suspect each other. Big bro is so amazing! His leadership is so cool!” Yuki said.

  
  


“Th-thanks f-for coming, (Y-Y/n)” Shinji said with a huge blush on his face, “O-oh, and you too, Hajime.” 

“...You call that cool?” I chuckled while looking at the blushing man, until I felt someone elbow me in the arm.

Ow. That seriously hurt. What the hell.

“Stop it.” Hajime whispered.

Fine, but I think hurting me was very unnecessary…

“Well anyways… I guess this is everyone… not that I’m too surprised.” Setsuka sighed.

“Are we the last ones?” Hajime asked.

“Most likely.”

“Hey… where’s Mikado? The food is already here… It’s strange he’s not eating with us.”

“Ah… about that…” Setsuka began, “Mikado said ‘ _I totally agree with Shinji! Everyone, did you miss my food? Let’s eat and get through this together!_ ’ so I only took the food and kicked him out of here.”

“Hm...Good. C’mon Hajime.” I said, grabbing Hajime’s arm and walked over to the left side of the table where we sat down and began to pick out some food to eat.

“So, the others will doubt each other in the end?” Shinji asked.

“...Who’d blame them? Hajime may have said he won’t try to kill again, but there could be a Void with a plan right here in the diner.”

“Hey Yuki! If you’re gonna talk like that, leave!!!” Shinji shouted.

“Eh? Wait, no, I didn’t mean it like that-”

“From now on guys, no talking like that. Once you get along naturally, the moment of unification will come!”

_...but getting along with so many people is too hard! Just let me chill with Hajime and Iroha while I actively avoid Nikei._

...

_...speak of the devil._

“Hmm! What a great quote! Mind if I use it as a headline of a morning newspaper?”

I rolled my eyes as Nikei strolled into the diner, notepad in hand, asshole aura, just being himself.

“Nikei? What are you doing here? Are you here to make fun of us or be mean to Hajime?” I asked with a glare.

“...Sorry.”

_Huh?_

“Ever since the trial… I was in a bad mood, wasn’t I? I was doubting everyone, being the root of the whole conflict. I’d like to apologize, i’m sorry.” Nikei apologized.

_...bullshit._

“Nikei, you… you agree with my ideas?” Shinji asked.

“I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t. You said ‘those who agree should go to the cafeteria’ right?” Nikei asked.

“What changed your mind all of a sudden?”

“Yeah, just yesterday you were a total jerk. No offense.” I crossed my arms.

_Yes offense, actually._

“Please understand his feelings… he seems to have gone through a lot mentally after what Shinji has said.”

I turned towards the entrance of the diner to see Emma enter, looking as beautiful as ever. “Emma, you’re here too?”

“...I thought it was impossible to trust you all after all this but… if everyone’s going for a new start, I will too."

“Yes! Emma!” I cheered.

BIG SISTER MATERIAL???

“If we were to doubt each other, a murder will occur eventually, and that doesn’t change anything. To become intimate with the Voids so they betray the group… It’s a great plan that doesn’t interfere with the rule. I never thought about it… I know I wasn’t the best and I may be late, but can we join the group?” Nikei asked for himself and Emma.

_...Iroha’s right, be optimistic!_

“Of course you can! Everyone is welcome- even a jerk like you, Nikei! If we all stick together, there’s nothing to fear! Well, if the others agree too, that is.” I said, looking over at Shinji for approval.

“Thank you everyone… for agreeing with me… Let’s all escape this island together.” Shinji smiled.

“...I guess Kokoro, Kanade, and Biki won’t be coming…” Setsuka sighed. I could tell she sounded especially disappointed when mentioning Hibiki. I could tell she really likes her, so with Hibiki treating everyone, including her, like garbage… it must hurt a lot.

“I guess we can’t help it, some people think differently about stuff…”  
  


“Well, let’s talk about the options we have from now on.” Hajime said, trying to change the subject.

  
“Options? Aren’t we just supposed to get along like we did before…?” Iroha asked.

“That’s just the basics, some things changed.” Hajime stated.

“Are you talking about the guy Mikado brought here yesterday?”

“Yeah, and the new island.”

“Since we’re not there yet, I don’t think we have to worry for now. But we do need to talk about the guy Nikei mentioned.” Shinji agreed.

“Yeah, the empty room in the boy’s dorm belongs to him now… when was that changed?”

“That guy was a graduate, right? What was his name?”

“Teruya Ootori, the Ultimate Merchant! He’s our upperclassman… and apparently a survivor of a school killing game…” I answered.

...

“Is a school killing game similar to the situation we’re in now?”

“If he really did experience a killing game and survived… he might be a big help.” I said.

“Yeah, we should ask him in person.”

“Hey… didn’t he seem familiar?” Yuki asked.

“Yeah, we saw him on the first day, remember?” I said, “He was with the orange haired lady?”

“No not… I mean… It feels like… I know him from somewhere…”

…?

“...About that… I vaguely remember what that man and woman said. ‘Yuki’ they definitely called your name. Maybe that might be of some relevance?” Nikei speculated.

“I mean… it’s just a feeling, I don’t know anything about those two at all.”

“...Yuki… are you hiding something from-”

“Nikei…”

“Huh? What?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to say stuff like that?” Shinji said, “Those who are here should never doubt their friends! That’s the most basic rule! Got it?”

“He’s right! If we doubt each other, we can’t stay positive!”

“Though he is suspicious… even if Kokoro said he isn’t a Void. Can we trust him? I wonder…”

“You can trust him.”

Suddenly, yet another person entered the diner- that person being Kokoro Mitsume.

“This is the last advice I can give to you guys. It’s fine to trust him.”

“Kokoro?”

“Kokoro! Did you come to see us? Do you agree with Shinji’s plans?” Setsuka asked.

“Wait, what do you mean by last advice, Kokoro?” 

“Teruya Ootori. You know fully that he’s not a Void. Since he’s not a Void, that automatically makes him more trustworthy than the others. Ask him the details.”

“Hey, don’t ignore me, what do you mean by ‘last advice’?” Nikei repeated.

“Since you’re here, you’re with us, right?”

...

“...No… I won’t be in your group. Moreover, I won’t help you at all from now on.”

“But why?” I asked, honestly disappointed.

“The reason i’m here is to explain my stance… listen carefully. I won’t think anymore about the Voids, nor will I predict which of you is a Void.”

“How come?”

“Kokoro, is it because we kept asking you after the trial? That we didn’t consider your feelings and nagged about finding the Voids?” Setsuka asked.

“No… I didn’t mind that. This is to preserve my own life.”

...

“Your life…?”

“Besides Hajime, there is definitely a Void in here at the moment as well, although I can’t be sure how many… I don’t know who you are, but I beg of you. I won’t interfere with your plans or try to discover your identities… so please don’t kill me.”

“Kokoro, are you saying that you’re going to be only a spectator? To not care who dies or not as long as you’re alive?” Nikei asked.

“Kokoro, think about this. All of us are scared of dying, but we’ve come together to survive. If we come together the less chance of a threat there will be, and a bigger chance of finding out the truth.” I said, hoping she may join our side.

“Yeah, and i’ll protect everyone here. No one will be left sacrificed.” Shinji added.

“This is the result of my talent. As you said, I can immediately identify who is a Void, who’s the wolf among the sheep if I wanted to. If I was motivated to, so if you were a Void, who would you want to get rid of first?”

“That’s…”

“The last victim, Yuri Kagarin, did act alone… but he was with everyone the night he died. If being with everyone prevented death, I wouldn’t have chosen this.”

“But are you fine with this? To survive alone without knowing the truth?” Yuki asked.

“It’s better than dying. My infinite curiosity will only live on while I'm alive. Well… this is my stance, if the Voids are still after me even after this… I guess I can’t do anything about that. Please respect my decisions.”

“Kokoro, could you consider it once more? Without you we-”

“Don’t be down, I was alone in the first place, I won’t be breaking our bonds completely. I will keep conversations limited to ones without the topic of The Voids or finding the truth.

"But if a trial happens I will still do my best, because a failed trial means death.”

“But that doesn’t make sense! Your reasoning in the class trials will be a nuisance to the Voids anyways-”

“No, you’re mistaking one thing. The Voids aren’t trying to win the class trial… Remember, after the trial, Hajime said ‘If I won, that’s a problem in itself’. Thus, it can be concluded that the Voids winning can be a problem in itself. If a Void commits murder, it means they followed the plan and are ready to trade their lives. They hope for the truth to be revealed in the class trial. If so… I could be quite handy for them in a class trial. Their obsticle is to not get revealed before the murder occurs. Thus, I'm their highest priority, understand?”

…

“Even now I could accidentally give hints to you… and the Voids would not be pleased. So… don’t be upset… if you need help, I will help you through limitations… Well then, this is the last time you will see me in an official meeting. Farewell, and take care.”

And then she left.

_**...How could she...** _

_**How dare she be so selfish?!** _

_**Caring about no one but herself!** _

_**Being okay with death as long as she doesn't die!** _

_**Refusing to help us at all!** _

_**Ugh! She sounds just like-...** _

_**...** _

_**...** _

_**...** _

_**Me.** _

_**...** _

“Um, well… Hello, I heard you can eat breakfast here…?”

An unfamiliar voice spoke up out of no where, bringing me out of my dark thoughts. Now standing in the doorway was the mysterious man we saw last night.

...

Everyone was silent until the man spoke again.

  
“Oh, uh, I realized I haven’t properly introduced myself, I’m the former Ultimate Merchant and a former student of Hope’s Peak, Teruya Ootori. Call me whatever you want… Man to think I had underclassmen at Hope’s Peak. Um, I don’t have any memories of interacting with you guys, for some reason. Well… now that we’re stuck here together, I hope we can get along.”

…

“I uh.. Can’t quite grasp the whole situation, but I heard there are Voids- a group of masterminds among you. Kokoro told me a lot, including the fact that I'm not a Void… but she told me that you are a Void." Teruya pointed directly at Hajime.

“Uh, yeah, I am… but I’m not going to hurt anyone… I promise. Even if I can’t leave Void… I’m not doing that anymore.” Hajime said, clearly speaking to everyone.

I smiled at Hajime's words, and the tense atmosphere had seemed to lighten up after Hajime spoke... just a little bit.

...

“Good, and If worse comes to worse, I should be able to help you guys in her place.” Teruya said, seeming pleased with what Hajime had said.

“That was last night, right? So Kokoro’s idea is to have this man lead us in her absence?” Emma asked.

“But can we trust him just because he got Kokoro’s approval? For all we know Kokoro could be a Void.” Nikei pointed out, “We should ask him about that and other stuff.”

Ugh.

“I don’t mind you asking me questions, but i’m not sure if I might be able to help you out.”

?

“I...might have amnesia… I can’t seem to remember some stuff… like there’s a hole in my memory… like the reason why I got kidnapped here…”

Amnesia...?

“You have amnesia? Like Sora?” I asked. 

Seriously?

“Wait, didn’t you arrive on the island with some woman?” Hajime asked.

“Huh? I’ve been on the island before? You must be joking!”

… -_-

“Well, this is certainly unexpected.”

“...Hey, uh, Teruya, why don’t you tell us everything you remember. That’ll be much easier.” Shinji said, trying his very best to make things easier for the man.

“Alright… since we’re in the same boat, i’ll try to remember as best as I can.”

Immediately I pulled out my notebook and opened it to a blank page, preparing to take as many notes as possible, I could also see Nikei was doing the same thing... how is his hand writing perfect to the point where I feel intimidated?

As Teruya began to explain his situation, I couldn’t help but feel sick to my stomach.

**_All those innocent lives taken by each other?_ **

**_They were just kids._ **

**_We’re all just kids._ **

“So… you were part of the class 79 that was abducted shortly after entering the school, and were forced to kill each other under words of a stuffed bear named Monokuma? Only three of you survived, and those three founded the Kisaragi foundation that you’re currently affiliated with?” Setsuka summarized.

“Hard to believe that there already was an incident similar to ours.”

“So what exactly is the Kisaragi foundation?” I asked.

_If they were after Mikado, perhaps they know Mikado’s plan?_

“About that… I can’t remember.”

_What?! That’s the most important part for my notes…!_

“I can only remember the basic outline, and the specific details are a bit foggy… The last memory I have before waking up is working at the foundation.”

“Um, you said you didn’t remember, but you had already arrived on the first island with… what’s her name? Rei?” Nikei asked.

**_That woman._ **

**_The one who was burned alive._ **

**_I witnessed her death._ **

“Huh?! Rei?! How do you know Rei?”

“Uh? I just said that we’ve met you and her.”

“Yeah… Rei… Rei was there… Guys, don’t worry. If they notice I’m gone, Rei and the foundation will come to save us.”

…

“...Huh? What’s with this atmosphere? I’m not joking here! You should see how capable Rei is-”

“Rei’s **dead**.”

…

The room went dead silent after those two words left my mouth. They were harsh and using them in that tone was horrible.

_But so is Teruya not knowing the truth._

“...You must be joking. She’s not the type to die just like that. She survived a killing game. She’s one to have multiple backup plans just to cover her life.” Teruya said, looking at me as if I was insane.

And honestly, I think I might be.

“We all witnessed it. Mikado’s magic burned her into a pile of ashes.”

“Lies!! Rei… Rei won’t die that easily. I won’t believe you until I see it with my own eyes!”

“I’m telling you, you were there with us.” Nikei stated.

...Ugh, please don’t back me up, Nikei. Make it someone else, anyone else.

“Maybe there’s some sort of trick? Like it’s all an illusion... Anyways, Rei isn’t dead. So you guys can all relax, there’s help coming from outside.”

…

I hate hearing him deny it.

“Are we sure we can trust this guy?” Iroha said quietly, but still loud enough for us to hear.

“If he’s denying it with this much certainty, there’s no more point in talking about this. Then how about we change the subject…” Shinji said.

“Yeah… would you maybe tell us about the killing game you experienced. Maybe there’s some sort of relation between the two games?” 

If only I didn’t have to ask that question.

“Um… Let’s see… sorry, I can’t remember that as well.”

…

“You’re kidding.” Hajime said.

“Believe me, I’m as frustrated as you are. I remember how it went and what it felt like… But the motives behind the games and even the others besides Rei… I… I can’t seem to recall… The ones who died… their names… their faces… damn it…”

Teruya seemed very stressed, I could see how upset he was about forgetting the people he went through so much with.

“Mikado said this person would help us… he’s not making things different.” I said to Hajime, but apparently Setsuka heard as well.

“No, if he can roughly remember how it went, it still may help us a bit. Teruya, even in that killing game you experienced, a lot of people died, right?”

“Yeah… fifteen… no, out of sixteen only three had survived.” Teruya confirmed.

**_Thirteen people died…_ **

“Does that mean if two people died, if the same thing happens to us… eleven more will die?” I asked.

_**Please, tell me the killing ends here.** _

_**Please, tell me I can discover the truth before it’s too late.** _

_**Please, tell me i’m not wishing for too much.** _

“Do you think I will let that happen?! Never in a million years!! Teruya, even a little bit is okay. Cooperate with us as best as you can, and we will help you as well.” Shinji said.

“Of course, I was about to anyway. Just like that time, the most important thing in a killing game is bonding… Let’s all help each other to get through this mess."

_ _ _ _ _

After everyone finished eating breakfast, I decided to explore the halls, when-

“Hey, y-you there, can I talk to you for a moment?”

I turned around to see Teruya.

What does he want?

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Uh… w-what did you say your name was?”

“Oh, it’s (Y/n) (L/n). By the way, you said you were Teruya. What would you like to be called?”

“Hm? Just whatever you want, It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Hmm… I can’t think of any stupid nicknames right now so i’ll just call you Teruya. Do you have something to ask me?”

“Well, I guess? But- well, I noticed you were writing in a notebook and I was just curious what you were writing about, you seemed really focused on it.”

“...So you just watched me write? That’s a weird thing to do. Are you hitting on me or something? Cause I may like tall guys but you look older than me, Teruya.”

“I-it’s nothing like that! I’m sorry if that was weird, I was just-”

“(Y/n), do you want to go work out with- Huh? Teru... something?”

I looked over and saw Hajime had walked over to us, clearly he wanted to speak with me, but paused when he saw Teruya.

“It’s Teruya Otori.”

“Right… uh, what are you two doing?”

“Hajime, he’s hitting on me.” I said, pointing at Teruya and talking like a whiny child blaming their sibling for their own mistake.

“Eh?! I said it was nothing like that!” Teruya frantically spoke.

Hajime seemed angry about what I said… he actually looked ready to beat Teruya up, “Okay, you need to back off before-”

Before anything else could happen, I quickly stepped in between them. “I was just kidding! Calm down, both of you!”

…

There was a long silence.

...

...

...

I guess i’m not a very funny person huh?

“…(Y/n), let’s go.” Hajime said as he grabbed my hand.

“Sure… bye Teruya.” I waved before turning away and walking alongside Hajime.

“Oh, uh, bye!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Y/n): Kokoro and Hibiki are really going to avoid everyone and not help at all just so someone else will die instead of them??? Ugh, what kind of self-centered brat would do that???
> 
> (Y/n): ...
> 
> (Y/n): Wait-


	17. Chapter 2 - A Cursed Legend - 5

_A person stood before me, head tilted down to look into my eyes- but I couldn’t see theirs._

_Their face was blurry, I couldn’t make out a single feature, but somehow I could tell they were nothing but serious._

_“Do you regret your decision yet?”_

  
  


I gasped as I woke up in my bed, It felt like I was swaying back and forth. I fell to the ground and tightly clenched my fists, shaking in fear- IS THE WORLD ENDING?!

The constant movement suddenly came to an end, and I heard a familiar deep voice through the speakers. “Wake up everyone! It is now 7:00 am! I hope you have another vigorous and safe day!” It was Monocrow, “Ah, since some of you have woken up by the vibrations just now, take notice. The Monocruise has been anchored at the second island. The sound you heard was because of that, so no need to worry. Please gather at the 1st floor auditorium immediately for some light orientation.”

I sighed as I slowly stood up, feeling pretty relieved that the world wasn’t ending. But at the same time… kind of disappointed?

_**It’s better than watching my friends kill each other.** _

I lifted up the hem of my nightgown to wipe away the sweat that formed on my forehead. I guess it was time to get ready.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _

  
  


“Hmm, everyone has gathered. Did you sleep well?” Monocrow asked as all of us stood in the auditorium.

“There’s no reason to sleep well on an island like this…” Yuki mumbled.

“That aside, it’s been a while, Mikado. You have not been showing your face at the diner lately.” Nikei said, turning to face the annoying wizard who stood in the corner of the room.

“It’s a shame, but don’t you have Teruya in your party instead? I psychologically can’t get along with him, huhu…For now I'm preparing food and keeping myself scarce.”

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me again? I’m not comfortable being around you either!” Teruya defended himself.

“More importantly, what is this!? Nikei, have you finally started to miss me!? You should have said so earlier!” Mikado exclaimed, “Though it’s always been like this… no one talked to me during the trip, so I was very lonely… If you all miss me that much… could I show myself at breakfast!?”

“No, you’re doing great. Please continue like it is now.” Nikei said.

Honestly? Mood.

“This is too much!!!”

“Now now, quiet, quiet! I didn’t call you here to chat after all.” Monocrow began speaking, “First of all, as I noted earlier, at the end of a two day trip, the Monocruise is currently anchored at the white beaches of the second island. The second island is much different from the first. To start, it is famous for being haunted by monsters and ghosts since ancient times.”

“M-monsters!? Ghosts!?” Iroha gasped.

“For that reason, a shrine to calm those wicked things has been created, and a museum that deals with the ecology of these beasts exists. Please be careful and try your best not to receive a curse…”

“Stop lying!! Where on earth would monsters and curses exist?!” Hibiki yelled.

“Well, something like a curse wouldn’t be too surprising in a situation where magic exists…”

“So?” Syobai spoke up.

“Hm? What do you mean ‘So’?”

“I’m talking about the reason you made us gather here.”

“The reason is to explain the history of this island, I am your teacher, and this still is a school field trip after all. Who else would play the role of the travel guide?”

“Then, since we’ve reached the island, we can investigate, right? I’ll leave first.” Kokoro said before immediately leaving to walk outside, others following behind.

“Eh?! Kokoro I still haven't told you the island's diverse history, where are you- Ah! Syobai too?!”

“Hm… let’s go Kanade.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to investigate with everyone else…?”

“Come when I say so!! What’s with the constant back talk!? Do you want to be in trouble?!”

“S-sorry sis! I-I won’t talk back anymore…!”

I rolled my eyes at the twin’s argument before turning towards Hajime who was talking with Shinji.

“Hey! Hajime!” I said.

“Oh, hey (Y/n).” Hajime smiled, “I was just about to go running with Shinji, do you want to come with us?”

Nice to know they’re getting along again.

“Me? Going running? Yeah right.” I laughed before seeing the serious looks on both Hajime and Shinji’s faces. “Oh… you’re serious.”

…

I looked at Hajime as I awkwardly played with my thumbs, “Well originally I was going to ask if you wanted to investigate with me, but… um, I won’t get in between you and Shinji’s exercise.” I said.

“Hey, we can investigate together later, alright?”

“...Sure.” I turned around and headed outside.

The layout of the island didn’t seem too different from the last one, other than the new places to explore. It was almost nice. Seeing what looked like a village, a museum, a new store.

**_No bell tower._ **

I walked through the palm trees until I made it to the main road. The first place In my sight was another U-Mart… wait no, a T-Mart.

Why did they switch the letters? Was there a reason behind this? Was U Monocrow’s favorite letter but then he decided he liked the letter T more?

I looked down at the notebook in my hands, debating if I should cross out the ridiculous and probably irrelevant observation.

Entering the store I could see the products and layout didn’t look too different from the the U-Mart, but the design on the walls were a bit more fancy looking and- wait, are those some mini monster figures? Was this place also a gift shop?

I didn’t see any reason to keep investigating the store- plus Nikei was inside too so… :/

Walking out of the T-mart, I headed to a… Village? Walking through the gate I could see the many historic looking houses and the beautiful and well-kept path and garden. 

Why do I feel like a tourist?

I could see the twins standing off to the side, clearly having an argument that I had no desire to be part of. Hibiki then looked in my direction and gave me a glare.

Okay then. 

I continued on my way around the village, turning down paths and investigated every inch of the surprisingly large area. Over all, it just seemed like a tourist attraction, I couldn’t find anything that exactly looked suspicious… Other than Syobai standing by one of the buildings… and smoking.

I rolled my eyes and left the village to go to the next location- a museum.

As expected, there were plenty of statues and displays of different monsters, spirits, ghosts, stories. I honestly wanted to read some of them.

There was also Kokoro standing next to… a broken statue...

I don’t even wanna know.

Suddenly I bumped into someone.

“Oh! (Y/n), you came at a great time!” Setsuka said, grabbing my hand and pulling towards the far end of the museum. “A great time?”

“When you enter this door you’ll see~”

Setsuka opened a large door in the back of the room, revealing a large dressing room full of wigs, makeup, and costumes of different monsters. Emma, Sora, and Iroha were also there too. “This is a dressing room. It’s a place where you can dress up as all kinds of monsters.” Emma said with a smile.

“Emma, how did you…”

“As we passed the area, we got caught by Setsuka.”

“So everyone was forcefully caught…?” Sora asked, looking over at Setsuka.

“It seems we’ve gathered all personnel, so shall we have some fun?” Setsuka said, grabbing a random costume off of the clothing rack.

So… we’re going to play dress up?

…

_Hell yeah._

Without wasting another moment, I violently moved costumes around on the shelves and racks, looking for something fun to wear.

“Hey (Y/n)! Look at this!”

I turned around to see Emma holding what looked like some sort of bat-like costume? Along with a grey wig and red contact lenses.

“What’s this supposed to be?”  
  


“The batsquatch! I think you would look nice in these colors so I wanted to suggest this one!” Emma exclaimed. I blushed a bit at her words and accepted the ‘batsquatch’ costume. 

Noticing the multiple curtains in the room, I walked over and moved one so I could change in privacy. Removing my clothes, I pulled on the purple, back, and grey dress. It was a little bit tight around the… chest area. But otherwise it was fine. I pulled on the dark grey boots and gloves which had fake claws on the fingertips. The last detail to add was the large black bat wings that clipped onto the back of the dress.

After I finished I exited the dressing room to see Emma already working on Iroha’s vampire makeup. “Oh my goodness! (Y/n)! You make such a cute batsquatch!” She said.

...And I supposed to look cute in this though?

“I start working on your makeup in just a moment here!”

  
  
“Alright.”

While waiting I pulled out my notebook and pencil, deciding to take some notes about the room. 

I look ridiculous but Emma thinks i’m really cute so i’ll endure it.

“Ooh! Look at you, (Y/n)! Setsuka said as she came out from behind a different curtain as well, “You look amazing!”

“Seriously? You should look at yourself!” I said and she laughed in response.

I couldn’t help but smile at everything around me.

_This was so much fun!_

I hadn’t really hung out with anyone in awhile besides Hajime. It was nice to spend time with the other girls here for once- well, besides Kokoro and the twins.

Suddenly my thoughts shifted elsewhere.

_Hajime._

I clenched my teeth again and crossed my arms over my chest.

I knew I was feeling jealous, I’m not oblivious or too stubborn to admit it. Even if I am still a bit angry at him, I still felt a bit disappointed that he wanted to hang out with Shinji instead of me. After all, we've been spending so much time together so why shouldn't I feel a bit upset?

_Am I a bad friend? Was Shinji a cooler friend than me? I’ve been there for Hajime even AFTER he framed me for murder. Is it because I don’t like to work out? Am I boring?_

**_Or am I just selfish?_ **

“Okay (Y/n)! Are you ready for your makeup to be done?”

“Oh! Yes, I am.” 

“Great!”

Emma pulled me over to her and began to work on my makeup.

_ _ _ _ _ 

  
“So this is what it feels like! Emma, thanks for some help coordinating!” Setsuka said. 

All of us were in different costumes now. Our makeup was perfect, our hair was styled. We looked just like the scary monsters.

“It’s nothing compared to Hollywood makeup, this was a piece of cake! You’re all so cute, especially you (Y/n)!”

Wait what.

“Yeah, (Y/n)! You look so cute!”

What?!

“Aren’t these supposed to be scary monster costumes? If they’re cute, that could be troublesome…” Sora said.

“Yeah! I thought I was supposed to look scary!” I crossed my arms and pouted. I wasn’t actually mad though.

“So what? It’s enough if we enjoy it!”

“But… what is this? This exhibition. Western and Eastern monsters are all mixed up… why is there no unity?” I asked.

“Still, the variety is fun isn’t it? I really like this vampire costume!” Iroha said, smiling and showing the fake fangs in her mouth.

“Emma’s costume is too real… that’s the slit mouth woman, right?”

“Yup! Am I… pretty?”

“Eeeek! Scary! You too Setsuka! Take out those lenses!”

_ _ _ _ _

After another hour of dressing up, we decided it would be best to stop and continue our investigations.

“Ah! That was so much fun, you were all too cute!” Setsuka said.

“Thank you for suggesting it. I had a lot of fun.” I smiled and gave Setsuka a hug.

“Of course! I’m glad you did!”

“Well, i’m going to continue my investigation. I’ll see you later!” I waved at the girls and walked out of the museum, pulling out my notebook and pen, preparing to take more notes.

Walking back on the main road I discovered… some sort of small mountain place..?

Once I walked through the gate, I could see Hajime, Shinji, and Yuki. 

“B-Big bro! Can I please take a break!”

“C’MON! KEEP RUNNING! YOU’RE ALMOST DONE!”

Yuki was running around in circles like his life depended on it, while Hajime and Shinji watched, encouraging him to keep going.

“Uh… what’s going on over here…?” I asked them, raising an eyebrow at the sight before me.

Though I haven’t seen this ever happen until now...

Why do I have a feeling this isn’t the first time it has happened?

“Hey, (Y/n).” Hajime smiled as I walked closer to the two men.

“(Y-Y/n)?! W-what are you doing here…?” Shinji blushed and stuttered, his face as red as a tomato. 

“Well, I was investigating but… I can’t help but be curious about... what is going on over here…?” I asked, gesturing to Yuki who was still running around like crazy. 

“O-oh… well, Hajime, Yuki and I were looking around...” Shinji said.

“Okay…”

…

...That didn’t even come close to answering my question.

I noticed Yuki had now walked over to us, breathing heavily and sweating. Gross.

“Big bro noticed this mountain and said ‘It’s a mountain! Being a man is climbing any mountain you see.’ So we all were going to march up the mountain but first I had to-”

“Okay, but shouldn’t you be investigating?”

“Well... I saw what looked like a shrine next to the mountain.”

“A shrine…?”

“Yuki! Come and climb up here quickly!”

I had to do a double take as I looked up and saw Shinji and Hajime halfway up the mountain.

What the fuck.

“Okay… I’m gonna go look at that shrine now…” I mumbled before walking away from this super odd experience.

Leaving the mountain behind, I approached the beautiful shrine- and I noticed Teruya was there looking around as well. 

“Oh, (Y/n). I see you came to the shrine too. It does stick out visually doesn’t it?”

“Hey, since all you really remember is being on the Monocruise, this is kinda like your first time on land.”

“You make it sound like I was born on the Monocruise… though that is accurate, it is kind of a new feeling after all. The killing game I was in… it was all in an enclosed building. I don’t remember it very well, but I know I never saw the sky. So walking around this island… i kinda feel free.”

“But, you’re still trapped by the ocean too.”

…

…

Noticing Teruya was now just staring at the shrine, I decided to ask him about it, “Do you know anything about the shrine?”

“I think it’s called the Kurokawa shrine… it seems familiar but…”

“Maybe there’s another shrine called Kurokawa? It’s not a very uncommon name…”

“No… it’s not that… ugh, I don’t know… It’s probably nothing important, i’ll just look around the shrine a bit more…” 

I nodded, deciding it was best to leave him be, it seemed like his memory loss was really bothering him- much more than Sora's was bothering her at least.

I can definitely understand why too…

Sora's memories were gone while Teruya's were full of large gaps.

“(Y/n)!”

I turned around and saw Iroha standing a few feet away, “Hi Iroha!” I said as I put my notebook away, “Did you find anything?”

“Not exactly… but I saw there was a fortune box still intact! Do you want to draw fortunes?”

It could be fun.

Especially if it’s with Iroha.

“Okay, sure.” I said.

“Cool let’s go!” Iroha grabbed my hand and led me further into the shrine where the tall box was located.

The box was in pretty good shape, but I could still tell it was very old.

_How old was this island?_

“Do you want to go first? Or should I?”

“You can go first.” I said, gesturing for her to grab one before me. 

“Okay, let’s hope for some good ones!” Iroha took a deep breath before grabbing a random fortune and pulling it out. She let out a gasp and her eyes sparkled.

“What does it say?” I asked, and she showed me her fortune.

  
  


_~You will marry Jeon Jungkook and adopt a goldfish named Arbys~_

  
  


What.

“Um, are you sure these are real?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Iroha asked, clutching the fortune tightly to her chest.

“Because it’s made out of pink construction paper and written in sharpie?”

“That does not mean it isn’t fate!”

“Yeah, okay.”

I reached in to grab one of the construction paper fortunes myself and unfolded it, reading it out loud.

_"~Throughout this tragedy, the love of your life will guide you to the truth~"  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Y/n) - *Dresses up in a scary monster costume*
> 
> Everyone - So cute!
> 
> (Y/n) - >:0


	18. Chapter 2 - A Cursed Legend - 6

It has been a couple of days since my investigation, and luckily, not a single tragedy has occurred and everything, for the most part, has been quite peaceful on the island.

I explored with Iroha a bit more and even spent some more time looking at the exhibits in the museum with Hajime.

...Is it weird that I’ve… low key been enjoying myself the last few days…?

Currently I was in my room baking, it had been awhile since I’ve done so, I think that last time I actually made a dessert was for the party on the first Island. So for now, I decided to make a chocolate layer cake… so delicious.

I had finally finished the frosting when I heard a familiar ‘ding’ come from my handbook.

_+_+_+_

  
  


**CHAT ROOM**

  
  


**13 IN CHAT**

  
  
  


**Setsuka Chiebukuro** **has invited** **(Y/n) (L/n)** **and 12 other people.**

  
  
  


**Setsuka Chiebukuro**

**< ( Guys. ) pm xx:xx**

  
  


**Mikado Sannoji**

**< ( Oooh! ) pm xx:xx**

  
  
  


**Setsuka Chiebukuro has banned Mikado Sannoji from the chatroom.**

  
  
  


**Setsuka Chiebukuro** **  
****  
****< ( My bad.) pm xx:xx**

**< ( Could everyone gather at the shrine?) pm xx:xx**

**< ( There’s a special event ready. ) pm xx:xx**

  
  
  


**Y/n L/n has left the chat.**

  
  


_+_+_+_

_What ‘event’?_ _  
  
_

I sighed as I put my frosting in the mini refrigerator and headed out, wondering what on earth Setsuka could be planning.

...And if I should be concerned or not.

_ _ _ _ _

  
  


I walked over to the shrine, it felt a bit weird walking outside alone since it was much darker outside than I had expected, but I wasn’t a coward.

That’s an absolute lie.

Walking through the gate I saw it was much different then when Iroha and I were last here. There were comfortable seats, tables, and a stage complete with instruments set up in the center.

_...What is going on…?_

“(Y/n)! Over here!”

Near the left of the stage I saw Iroha, Setsuka, Hajime, Sora, Yuki, Shinji, Teruya, Emma, little shit Nikei… and surprisingly Kokoro as well.

I walked over to join the others when Setsuka exclaimed, “Ah! Everyone’s here, thanks for coming!”

“Setsuka and the boys, what were you all doing today?” Sora asked.

Now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t seen any of the boys today- well I saw Syobai smoking outside, but that doesn’t count.

“Setsuka wanted help setting up the stage.” Hajime said.

“Stage…? Oh, he’s right, I see sound devices here.”

Emma… sound devices…? Is that a thing people say? Is that normal?

...It’s probably just an Emma thing.

“I wanted to do it on my own and make it a surprise, but it required a lot of manpower, so I had to ask the boys to lend me some of theirs.” Setsuka explained, gesturing to the big stage.

I mean, it is a really good looking stage, “The party from last time, and now this? You must really like surprises, huh?”

“F-feel free to ask for help if you need someone with raw strength…” Shinji blushed.

“What’s the stage for though? Is someone going to perform on it? Is it BTS?!” Iroha looked around, her eyes sparkling.

_I swear if she still believes that she’s going to marry Jungkook, I’m going to lose my marbles._

“No… I think it should be obvious, there’s no one else but the twin’s who are fit for performing music on stage.” Nikei said.

“The twins…? I thought they didn’t like us…”

“I told Setsuka they wouldn’t come, but she insisted.”

“Just wait and see, big sis has a hunch about this! Let’s see… the audience is here, now all we need is the performers… I’m sure I sent the message…” Setsuka pulled out her handbook to double check the chatroom feature. 

“Well, I believe the chances of them coming are close to none.” Kokoro spoke up, though she looked very annoyed.

Most likely because Emma was hugging her so tight she probably couldn’t move an inch.

“Kokoro? You’re here too?”

“Yeah, didn’t you tell us you didn’t want to be in our group?”

“Can you not see Emma holding on to me? She brought me here because she says it’s ‘important’ she must think of me as her friend now…” Kokoro rolled her eyes.

“Why are you saying that? We are friends!”

“We are not.”

Mood.

Though Emma and Kokoro’s interaction was amusing, I still couldn’t help but wonder what Kokoro meant by the twins not showing up? I know she’s the Ultimate Psychologist, but how would she know Hibiki and Kanade would walk through that gate? “Kokoro, you said the twins won’t show up… why do you think that?”

  
“From what I know, Hibiki doesn’t trust _us_ yet. She may be feeling lonely, but is still conflicted by her course of actions, are you really sure she will show up?”

  
“ _Us?_ ” Emma said with a happy look on her face.

  
“S-she doesn’t trust _you_ all yet…” Kokoro tried to cover up her words.

_...Why does this high key remind me of my interactions with Hajime?_

“No way… I'd feel pretty bad if all the work we did was for nothing…” Teruya sighed.

“I told you Setsuka, they are not co-”

“No wait, look over there.”

I looked in the direction of the gate to see Hibiki slowly enter the shrine, Kanade not too far behind. Hibiki looked nervous and uncomfortable, looking around every corner, as if checking for threats.

Once the twins stood before us, Kanade spoke, “Hello everyone…”

“Hi Hibiki… hi Kanade…” I greeted quietly.

“You finally came sweeties! Hibiki, Kanade, we talked about this in the chatroom earlier, right?” Setsuka said with excitement.

“...So what? What’s this whole concert for?! You want to kill me and Kanade while we’re distracted?! You Voids!!"

:/

  
“B-big sis!! Calm down!"

“That’s not right Hibiki. I told you last night, we just want you to join us.” Setsuka spoke, “I know you are concerned some of us may be Voids. Yes, there are probably Voids here right now, we can’t sleep easily at night because of that matter. But that’s why we’re sticking together. Who cares who is in void? We can forget about it and just get along with each other! And Hajime has proved we can do just that.”

I looked over at Hajime and gave him a smile.

_I’m really happy people gave him a second chance- most of them at least._

“And, it’s clear the other voids must be angry with Mikado too. The stronger our bonds get, the weaker the void’s threat becomes. Hibiki, I want you to know that.”

“No! Getting along with someone you are unsure is a murderer?! Are you insane?! You’re all the same as Mikado!”

“See? Stop wasting your time-”

“HEY NIKEI, SHUT UP!”

_Thanks Shinji._

  
“H-huh? Okay… sorry…”

“H-Hibiki Otonokoji…” Shinji stuttered.

“What is it Shin….?”

“I’m the one who decided this course of action. I’m the one who wants us to get along… if you need to let out your rage at someone… do it to me…”

I decided to speak up as well, we all needed answers, “Hibiki… why did you come here? Was it really just to throw us an insult?”

“N-no…”

“Can you be honest?”

  
“Biki, I know you. I know you’re not someone to throw insults out without a reason.”

“You don’t know that…”

“I do. If you really don’t trust us, why would you be using our nicknames?”

“Speaking of that, Hibiki stopped using nicknames for Hajime after the last trial… She used to call him Haji.”

“But you still call us by our nicknames… so, you don’t completely reject us, do you?”

“I haven’t been with you all very long, but if you’re concerned about the attitude up to now, there is nothing to worry about.”

After others shared their words, I saw Setsuka walk over to Hibiki and gave her a head pat and a big smile, “Stop crying Biki, like (Y/n) said, be honest with yourself.”

“B-but…” Tears formed in Hibiki’s eyes.

“What are you afraid of? The fact that we might be Voids? Your attitude towards us after the trial? Instead of worrying about those things, wouldn't it be best for you to do what you love most? “

“...Suka…but is it… alright? What if… we die because of this…?”

“We all know that we are exposed to danger after Yuri died, but if we don’t do anything, the results are the same. It would be best to work as a team to find a solution, don’t you agree? Kanade, Biki, we need your help, so please lend us your hand.”

“Guys… I…” Hibiki threw herself into Setsuka’s arms and hugged her tight, “I WANT TO JOIN YOU! BEING LIKE THIS IS SCARY! AND LONELY! I’m sorry I was so stubborn… after Yuri died… I have said nothing but bad stuff… and you all still believed in me… thank you.”

“Don’t worry, it's nothing if it’s for a friend.”

“...So pure and honest Hibiki, it’s so nice to detect these kinds of emotions.” Kokoro smiled.

“Kanade, you’re fine with this too, right?”

“O-of course…”

“So… Can we see the concert?” Hajime asked.

  
“...Concert?” Hibiki questioned.

  
“Don’t pretend you didn’t know! Setsuka must have told you! Why do you think we set up this stage? To watch (Y/n) play Masterchef?”

_Nikei. What the fuck._

“Don’t tease (Y/n) like that and shut up.” Hajime shot Nikei a glare.

  
“Biki, Kanade, you love singing, right? To celebrate you joining us, show us a performance of Melody Risen!” Setsuka clapped.

“It’s Melody Rhythm! Anyways… we’re doing this? I thought it was a joke…”

“But didn’t you accept the offer?” I raised an eyebrow.

  
“I guess… but it’s still so sudden…”

“Well, I’d like to hear you guys sing.” I said.

“Me too! Seeing a live Melody Rhythm concert is a dream come true!” Yuki was being a fanboy.

Yuki is the Ultimate fanboy.

“But we haven’t prepared any…”

“Come now, it really isn’t like you to be embarrassed like this.” Emma said.

“Yeah, everyone wants to hear you. A famous band? I’m curious too.” Teruya spoke.

“...I guess you guys can’t help it!” Hibiki smiled, “Then I gotta do this! We’ll rock you so hard that you’ll become prisoners of our songs! Things will get crazy tonight! Kanade! Let’s sing!”

Kanade seemed a bit nervous by Hibiki’s words until… Hibiki began to comfort her?

Huh. 

“Is it just me? Or did Hibiki change a little bit?”

“Alright! Let’s sing!” Kanade said.

“That’s my little sis!” Hibiki and Kanade quickly ran up to the stage, Kanade grabbing a pink guitar, and Hibiki taking the microphone, “Are you ready everyone~!?”

  
“Yeah, we’ve been ready for ages.” Nikei scoffed.

“Do you take pleasure in ruining the mood? You little-” I had reached a level of annoyance that ended up with me repeatedly hitting him.

“H-Hey! Violence is against school rules!” He said, pushing me away gently.

_ _ _ _ _

The concert was a blast. Each song is better than the next.

_Well, I am definitely addicted now._

“It’s the last song of the night! Any requests?”

“Sing Fake Love please!” I heard Iroha shout from further away, though she was too far away for Hibiki to hear.

“Um… do you know (f/s)?” You asked.

“Of course! C’mon Kanade! Let’s play (f/s)!”

“O-okay.”

I smiled as the familiar melody of the upbeat song I love began, and without a second to waste, I began to dance.

_I almost felt free, like there weren't any **worries** , no killing game, no **lies** , no **pain.** _

_**Just me** and the rhythm. _

“Hey, (Y/n)?”

I heard a voice break me out of my thoughts, only to see Hajime standing before me, “Yeah?”

“Remember back at the party on the first island when you asked for a dance?”

“...Yeah…” I felt my face heat up and I looked at the ground as I remembered awkwardly getting rejected by him at the last party. Must he remind me of my embarrassment and disappointment??  
  


“Would you mind if I take you up on that offer?”

My eyes widened as I looked up at him. I nodded as he grabbed my hands and walked me a bit further from the stage before stopping and pulling me closer.

I felt a blush make its way to my cheeks as I tried to adjust my position, it’s been awhile since I danced… like, I knew how to, but I wasn’t mentally prepared.

_Nor was I prepared to have my body pressed against the body of a very attractive man!!_

“Um… don’t you think this song is a bit too upbeat for a dance like this?” I tried to joke as we began to dance.

“Does it matter?” He chuckled.

“...I guess not…”

“Just stop questioning things and have fun, that’s what this night is all about right? Letting go and having a nice time together.”

I contemplated his words. _He was right._

Plus, _it’s better to have as many happy moments as you can_ **_before it all falls apart._**

“Hmm… you’re right. I shouldn’t waste the night feeling stressed like this, I can save that for tomorrow.”

“Whatever you say (Y/n).”

We danced for a while longer, until Hajime spoke again, “Hey… (Y/n)... I’ve been wanting to ask if-”

“And that was Melody Rhythm~! Thank you!” Hibiki’s voice abruptly echoed through the speaker, cutting off Hajime’s words.

“Amazing! That’s my cute babes!” Setsuka cheered.

“I still have shivers from the concert, to put it in words.” Emma… acted like herself.

“It’s been so dang awful long since I was this here excited!” 

“Are you a bit too excited Teruya? Please don’t jump all around! You’re blocking my sight!” Iroha complained.

“What’s all the commotion?”

Everyone looked towards the entrance to see Syobai standing at the gate, a cigarette between his fingers.

“What are you doing here…?”

“I could hear all the way from the Monocruise, no need to act crazy.”

“You’re the crazy one here! Get out!”

Nikei, however, completely ignored Syobai and began to interview the twins, “This is a scoop! The band of the century! Melody Rhythm! May I please take your interview?”

“Of course~!”

We better head back to the Monocruise, it’s getting late!” Shinji stated.

“Wait! Just this one interview!”

“That was so much fun! Wait…”

I looked over and noticed Teruya frantically looking around.

“You okay Teruya?” I asked.

  
“Has anyone seen Kokoro…? Where did she go?”

  
“She hates loud places… maybe she went back?”

  
“Uh… i’ll search for her… on sec.”

“I’ll look too, see you later Hajime.” I waved at him before walking through the gate and looking around… when I saw.

_Is that… a hand…?_

My blood ran cold as I slowly peaked around the bush only to find…

Kokoro passed out on the ground.

I let out a scream.

In an instant, several pairs of footsteps ran in my direction.

“(Y/N)?! (Y/N)!” I heard Hajime’s voice as he immediately pulled me close and hugged me, “(Y/N), What happened?! Are you okay?!”

“I-I’m fine but Kokoro-! She’s on the ground!”

Emma crouched down and held Kokoro’s body, tears streaming down her cheeks, “Kokoro! Kokoro! Please wake up!”

_And that freedom I felt was gone._

_**Here you stand, chained to despair once again.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nikei: *Exists*
> 
> (Y/n): *points at him* I hate that thing.
> 
> Fun fact: Even though I treat Nikei like shit in this story, he is actually my all time favorite character in Sdra2. I freaking love him. Always have, always will.


	19. Chapter 2 - A Cursed Legend - 7

_“Like this Dr. Yutaka?”_

_“Dr. Yutaka? That’s new.” The woman laughed as she watched the young girl that was using her arm to practice properly wrapping a bandage._

_“Well Tsumiki calls you that, If I’m here I should too, right?”_

_“Hehe, she calls me that because she’s my assistant (Y/n), you’re-”_

_There was a knock on the cabinet as the head of a man peaked around the corner of the curtain, “Dr. Yutaka? I apologize for interrupting, but there is a young boy in need of medical attention.”_

_“An injury?” The woman unwrapped the bandages and handed them to the little girl before standing up._

_“His parent’s say he is very ill, they have yet to state the symptoms.”_

_“Alright, send Tsumiki over and say i’ll be there in about… ten minutes? I won’t take too long.”_

_The man nodded before leaving the room._

_“You have to go again?” The child asked with slumped shoulders, “You only got to help me for a little bit…”_

_“I’m sorry dear, but I’m a doctor, I have to help this boy. If you want to continue practice today I can get someone-”_

_“No, it’s okay.”_

_There was silence._

_“Why don’t you head back to the bakery? Mrs. (L/n) told me she wants you to help her with a new recipe.”_

_The little girl’s eyes lit up with excitement, “A new recipe?!”_

_“Mhm!”_

_“Okay bye Dr. Yutaka!”_

_“Goodbye dear.” the woman smiled in amusement and waved as the child ran out of the room and down the empty hall._

_Passing by the rooms, the young girl paused before one on the left. There she could see Tsumiki and a other few nurses hooking a young boy up to multiple machines. His hair was messy and eyes looked dull. She could see the pain in the eyes of his parents who stood by the window._

_She wished she could help him._

_But she doesn’t know how._

_Turning away the little girl entered the cafeteria and walked towards the sign that read:_

_“(L/N) BAKERY”_

_“Oh! You’re finally back sweetheart, did Dr. Yutaka tell you about the recipe?” a kind looking woman asked with a smile._

_  
__  
__“Yes! What is it?”_

 _  
__  
__“Well, I told her it was Apple Pie, but it is actually Tiramisu.” The lady said, “I know it’s one of her favorite desserts, so I thought I’d make it for her as a thanks for letting us start our business in the cafeteria- and you helping would make it even more special.”_

_“Okay! When do we start?”_

__ _ _ _ __

My eyes shot open and I sat up in bed. My head pounding and my eyes dripping tears.

_Why am I crying?_

I stood up fast, somehow sitting down made me feel sick.

_What’s going on with me?_

I grabbed something off of my desk and opened the door to my room, running down the halls and the stairs, the tears never ending. 

I ran until I made it to the infirmary, strange that i’d end up here out of all places, especially after that dream.

_Wait…_

_What dream…?_

Suddenly it’s like the entire dream vanished, and I was left with nothing but an empty mind.

I slumped down onto one of the hospital beds, leaning against the wall and closing my eyes. Sweat and tears drying. Every memory from that dream completely vanished, now all I could focus on was how I felt. My mind may be blank, but I know that dream felt odd.

It wasn’t a nightmare, but it felt… sad and dreadful. It reminded me of another dream I had awhile ago, though I had forgotten that one at this point too.

They almost felt like mixed up pieces of the same story.

I shook away my thoughts, deciding to think about the last couple of days.

And the last couple of days have been… quite unnerving to say the least.

With Kokoro passing out and then learning she caught a disease that left her unable to speak or walk?

It annoyed me how she refused to let me help Syobai figure out what's wrong with her, so I just had to take Syobai's words and deal with it. Did Kokoro seriously trust him more than me?

In a situation like this… she may seem calm but she must be panicking on the inside.

She had requested we bring her breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday at specific times, all of us taking turns in different groups. Teruya is always with the group no matter what though… which I get. 

Other than Iroha and Hajime, I definitely trust Teruya the most.

Tomorrow Hajime, Teruya, and I are meant to give Kokoro her breakfast. 

It always feels strange going to visit her after all that happened…

It’s like _Kokoro is gone_ , and _she's a different person now_.

I contemplated on If I should return to my room or not.

But at this point I felt too awake to go back to bed.

I looked down at the item I had grabbed before I left my room- my notebook.

I brought my knees up near my chest and placed my notebook on top to use them as a surface to write on.

_If I can’t fall back asleep I may as well see if I can figure something out..._

I flipped through my notes before stopping at the second page. The one where I wrote the rule that never left my mind.

**_‘No Voids are allowed to speak of information about the reason behind this killing game (even if they no longer have a place in the plan) to anyone outside of Void or else they, along with the person who was spoken too, will be executed.’_ **

_Wait…_

_No way…_

_Did I just…?_

_...The Voids can’t speak of the information to others, and the ones spoken to will die..._

_...But it doesn’t say non-voids who learned information another way will face death if they speak of it._

_If I can somehow just get information, perhaps with some help from Hajime, I may be able to reveal the truth without ending more lives._

_But if a Void cannot speak of the information and they tell me, we both die-_

_Wait._

_Speak…_

_Spoken to…_

_Those words…_

_Could I… communicate with a Void without speaking?_

_Mikado should have thought his words through a bit more…_

_Because I’ve just found two flaws in them._

Whatever plan I had before was completely out of the picture after the realization.

_Those two flaws that can definitely do some damage._

I quickly wrote down my thoughts, when I suddenly heard… voices down the hall.

  
  
  
  


...

“You know I don’t believe you.”

“You don't believe that I'm fine with it?”

“Yes.”

“You played your part- although very poorly, that unexpected result was… very entertaining! Not to mention quite despair inducing… overall I’d say Miss Kabuya’s death may have made the plan better so… Thank you for your failure!”

“Don’t say all that bullshit! I know you have some sort of fucked up plans for me I don’t know of!”  
  


“The only thing I need you to do is keep your mouth shut! And you truly don’t have a choice on the matter, unless death is your desire.”

“...”

“...But, if you choose to redeem yourself and show you are worthy of Void, I have a way to add you into the plan once more. Be aware this is a one time offer.”  
  


“...No.”

“What happened to your loyalty? What happened to being a devoted member of Void?”

“Things are different now… there’s something more important.”

“Oh come oooon, are you really going to decline my offer? For that stupid girl?”

“She’s not stupid, she's... amazing… and though I don’t trust you anymore, you gave me the option to just stay silent, so i’m sticking to that.

“Hm. Are you sure this is what you want? I hope you remember that _he_ made you who you are now. You still are a Void, so If this plan somehow ends up unsuccessful, things will not be looking good for you… you know what will happen, don’t you?”

“...Yes.”

“Very well, I suppose I won’t be able to sway you, for now at least.”

“One last question.”

“And that is?”

“Why didn’t you just kill me?”

“Is it not obvious? To give them false hope.”

I listened to the conversation from start to finish. There was no doubt in my mind that the two speaking were Mikado and Hajime.

And that 'the silly girl' is me.

Though happy to know Hajime is truly loyal, I felt a bit disappointed that I heard two Voids have a conversation, and yet have no satisfying information... other than some ominous statements.

Though there is one thing...

Who is...

**_He...?_ **

...

I wrote ' _he_ ' on the right of my page before contemplating future actions. The whole conversation between Mikado and Hajime made me second guess my choice of a Void ally. I'd like to choose Hajime, but I feel like him being involved could end very badly- if Mikado were to figure out my plan, obviously he'd guess that Hajime is the Void i'm working with.

I guess Hajime isn't an option in this situation, I can't afford him dying.

_...I know they must all be angry... but how will I find a Void willing to do this...?_

_**Is there one that wants to destroy Mikado's plans as much as I do?** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hajime: *Says (Y/n) is amazing*
> 
> (Y/n): *Does not care*


	20. Chapter 2 - A Cursed Legend - 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii fruitpunchiies is back on ao3! Sorry I've been gone lately, I've been busy with classes and stuff! But thanks to winter break, Protect Me has FINALLY been updated. Also nobody has to worry about this story being discontinued, even if there is the occasional hiatus (because life happens), this story will be written to completion. 
> 
> And a reminder! Not everything in this story will be canon, I gotta make (Y/n) important in this story after all. 
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy~!

“Hey Hajime, can you hand me the food?” I asked Hajime as he, Teruya and I stood before Kokoro’s room, holding the tray with her breakfast.

“Sure.” He handed me the food and I knocked on the door, “Kokoro! Me, Hajime, and Teruya have your breakfast!”

…

There was no response.

I knocked again.

“Kokoro?”

…

“...I’ll set your food outside?”

…

“I don’t think she’s gonna answer, (Y/n).” Hajime spoke.

“...Okay.”

The three of us began to walk away. I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed, I hadn’t spoken to Kokoro since the concert. She didn’t want me there. But why? I could help her! 

_What did I do for her to not want me around?_

_Does she not like me?_

**_Why wouldn’t she like you?_ **

**_You are true perfection._ **

“(Y/n), since we already ate, do you wanna go on a walk with me?” Hajime asked.

I shrugged, “Sure, see you later Teruya!” I said before Hajime and I walked in the opposite direction towards the exit of the monocruise.

Hajime and I had decided we would walk to where the concert was held, and then back to the ship, because there was no way in HELL I was walking up that mountain again.

It was a really beautiful day today, so I was actually really happy to take a walk, I was just surprised Hajime didn’t invite Shinji to come along… wait, why didn’t he invite Shinji to come along?

Whatever, that wasn’t important right now.

What was important? The thoughts swirling in my head that I needed to let out.

I couldn’t let Hajime know I overheard him and Mikado speaking last night, let alone any details. After all, I’m sure I didn’t even hear the entire conversation.

I didn’t want to get Hajime involved in my plans and theories, putting him at risk was not something I wanted to do… but I needed some sort of clarity… I just needed to make my questions as vague as possible.

“Hey, Hajime?”  
  
“Hm?”

“I’ve been thinking about Mikado’s rule he made post trial, you remember it? How if the members of Void, even if they no longer have a place in the plan, speak about it they will be killed along with the person spoken to?”

“...Yes..”

“Well… why not just betray Void? If you leave them, the rule won’t apply to you anymore, right? You can tell us everything.”

Of course despite the fact that, technically, this was true, it was still risky, and my plan was already laid out and hopefully as fool proof as my mind thinks it is. But I wanted to know why Hajime wouldn’t truly leave Void. Mikado betrayed him, he was going to kill him. And yet Hajime just… stays?

“It’s complicated…”

“How so?”

“...I can’t exactly talk about it…”

“I just want to know why you won’t just… leave it all behind?”

“...There’s something different about each Void… we needed certain things, and those things…” He paused, “Let’s just say that leaving Void will not end well for me, whether Mikado is involved or not.”

I could tell Hajime was being vague with his words, but it was enough for me to see that no matter what, I would not be able to have Hajime be part of my plan.

“Alright-”

Suddenly, the sound of Monocrow’s voice echoed through a speaker. Words I never wanted to hear again met my ears.

**_A dead body has been found! Please gather at the crime scene of Kokoro Mitsume’s room!_ **

_ _ _ _ _ 

“Please tell me this isn’t real…” Iroha said with a gasp.

Hibiki began to cry before slowly crouching on the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her forehead against them. “Don’t cry sis! You’ll live longer if you smile a lot!” Kanade said as she sat down beside her.

Is she _serious?_

“Smile?” I scoffed, “Who would smile in this situation?”

“What’s the matter, (Y/n)? I’m just trying to console my sis.”

Shinji let out a loud sigh while crossing his arms, a look of disappointment on his face, “Dang it… where was I when this happened? I’m so useless!”

“I can’t believe this… I thought I saw the last of people getting murdered…” Teruya spoke.

It was hard to see something like this again, Yuri died 10 days ago, and now Kokoro is gone too?

...

I leaned back against Hajime. I probably would have rested my head on his shoulder but, you know, it would be awkward since we’re not a couple and stuff.

_Plus I'm too fucking short._

  
“Is there something we can use to cover her up…?” Setsuka asked, glancing over at Kokoro’s corpse, “Just having her lay without clothes on seems wrong…”

“What are you doing? Touching a corpse like it’s nothing.” Syobai said, stepping into the room, “Get your hands off.”

“You little-! You can’t just step in and say stuff like that!” Shinji yelled.

As always.

“Please, spare your precious sentiment. What if that girl does something on the body while pretending to just cover her up with that?”

I hate that he’s right.

He’s worse than Nikei.

...

Actually no.

Nikei’s still worse.

“What? Setsuka wouldn’t-”

  
“Syobai’s right everyone. I understand your sad feelings, but since there was a murder, we have to do that thing again.” Kanade said as she stood up.

“And what’s that?” I asked.

 _  
_ _“Why, it’s the heart throbbing, fun for the whole family class trial, of course!”_ Monocrow said from his place perched upon the table.

“That’s right! It’s time for the class trial! The time where I finally get to spend some time with you dear people!” Mikado said cheerfully.

“Shut up, Mikado.” Hajime said.

“So… the class trial… does that mean… the killer is one of us again, right? The one who murdered Kokoro?” Nikei asked.

“T-that can’t be…”

“Why…? It’s been over 10 days since Yuri… and our relationships have gotten better each day.”

“Yeah… and there was no special motive… a reason to do such a thing…”

“It’s the Voids,” Hibiki said in a shaky voice, “No one but the Voids would’ve murdered Kokoro, right Hajime?”

  
“Well, I guess…” Hajime confirmed, seeming a bit caught off guard by Hibiki speaking to him.

“Well… It must be them, they are the root of all of this…” I sighed.

“But… that doesn’t make sense!” Iroha spoke up loudly, making all eyes turn to her, “Kokoro was killed by Yuki Onna’s curse! She wasn’t killed by us! The class trial shouldn’t happen!”

“Oh my god…”

_Is she fucking serious?_

First the fortunes, and now a fake curse from the museum? 

Iroha, I adore you, but this is ridiculous.

“Look at her ankles and wrists! They’re frozen without hands or feet! Yuki Onna must have taken them! It was written on the exhibit! They freeze the person and cut their hands off out of spite!” 

“You can’t be serious, what kind of crap is that?” Kanade said in an annoyed tone.

Thank you, Kanade.

“A curse? I know that doesn’t exist… but I sorta wish she was killed because of that instead…” Setsuka let out an awkward laugh.

**_I wish she wasn’t killed at all._ **

“Even if one of us did kill Kokoro… could we even find out who did it in the class trial?” Shinji asked, “Last time we couldn’t do anything without Kokoro… and now…”

“Everyone, you’ve given up on trying to think… well, it’s to be expected, these past few days you have all given up on thinking logically. ‘We can’t do it without Kokoro, this is the work of a curse’. Those are the words of someone who has given up on thinking on their own.” Mikado spoke, “Humans are intelligent, but also decisive. If you choose not to think at all, then that’s all there is to it. But that won’t create a proper class trial, so let me provide some motivation!”

“...Motivation?” I asked, taking a step forward while tilting my head to the side.

What was he going on about…?

  
“If you pass the class trial, I’ll give you a present!”

Oh.

“I mean, you’ll die anyways if you don’t pass, but since there are presents on the line this time, cheer up everyone!”

“Shut up Mikado! We don’t want your damn presents!”

“Everyone, we must do this” Sora said,“ There’s no other choice. If we don’t, we die. We’ve done this once, we know we can’t run away from it.”

“Let’s do this…”

I looked over to see Emma staring at Kokoro’s body, tears constantly dripping down her cheeks, and her hands clutching the sides of her fluffy jacket, “We must, for Kokoro’s sake. We can’t give up, we’ll win the class trial. Everyone should focus right now.”

“Yeah, if we do this together, we can make it.”

“Everyone’s finally ready, this took longer than last time.” Monocrow said, “Well! I present to you, the Monocrow file #2! I’ll give you one hour to investigate! Good Luck!” Monocrow gave Sora the file before flying away, leaving us to investigate the mysterious and devastating murder of our friend.  
  


“...Well, let’s start investigating.” Setsuka said as she crossed her arms, though it wasn’t hard to see how much she didn’t want to be here right now.

But really, did any of us?

Actually, Mikado might.

“Um, everyone, could I have a moment? I’d like to request someone to guard the crime scene and someone to guard the body.” Kanade said.

“I’ll guard the crime scene. We’ll have two other people watch again too, since I know you don’t exactly trust me much anymore.” Hajime said, and everyone seemed to agree.

“Alright, if Hajime is guarding the rest of the crime scene, I’ll help guard the body…” I began, “But I think the other one guarding the body should be a girl. I want to investigate the body while guarding too.”

“T-then why don’t I do the favor? I won’t be much help investigating anyways…” Iroha said as she walked over to stand beside me.

“Hmm… (Y/n)... a bit unreliable… but I guess you’ll do…” Kanade sighed.

I rolled my eyes at Kanade’s words before walking over to Kokoro’s corpse. It was disturbing to look at. The lack of clothes, the unnatural tint to her skin, the dull look in her eyes, the cut off hands and feet… ugh.

I feel like throwing up…

I took a deep breath. As devastating as this scenario was, I knew I had to investigate. And that is exactly what I’m going to do.

...Where do I begin though?

“(Y/n).”

I looked over at Hajime who walked over to me, “Let’s look at the Monocrow file first.”

“Good Idea.” I agreed, taking the device from his hands and turning it on for the both of us to read.

  
  
  


**\- MONOCROW FILE 2 -**

**\- The victim is Kokoro Mitsume.**

\- Time of death is unknown.

\- Place of death is Kokoro Mitsume’s room.

\- Both hands and feet have been cut off and are missing. There is also 2nd and 3rd degree frostbite all over the body, causing necrosis to the cells.

\- Other possible causes of death are destruction of cellular tissues due to hypothermia or frostbite. There may be additional signs.

  
  
  


Hajime raised an eyebrow after we finished reading it “...Just as expected, Kokoro froze to death… but this Monocrow file seems… weird.”

“How so…?”

“It says the time of death is unknown… unlike… um, Yuri’s death which had the time stated.”

I nodded in agreement, “Yeah… also it says ‘possible cause of death’ ...why are these details left so ambiguous?”

Hajime sighed before taking the file from me, “Well, the Monocrow file only shows basic information, so it is probably best we just rely on our own investigation.”

“I guess you’re right…”

I turned around to speak to Iroha, only to see her doodling away in her sketchbook, lost in her own little world, “Iroha Nijiue, you are supposed to be guarding Kokoro’s corpse, not drawing pictures of Jungkook.” 

She squeaked before setting down the sketchbook, “I’m sorry! I was just… um…”

  
  
“Just investigate, alright?” I said to save her from further embarrassment.

She nodded in response and accepted the Monocrow file that I held out for her to take. As devastating as the scenario was, I knew I had to investigate, and that is exactly what I was going to do.

And first on the list… was investigating the body.

I pulled out my notebook and pencil to take notes, then I got closer to the bed and examined Kokoro’s corpse… the cause of death was definitely freezing, there was no doubt about that, but the monocrow file did mention that there could be additional causes, so I shouldn’t just assume that was the only thing that caused her death.

Especially since Kokoro’s hands and feet were cut off.

I almost felt like throwing up, it was an absolutely disturbing sight… there’s no way another crime scene could look as messed up as this. Yuri’s was awful, but this was so much… more unsettling. 

Other than Kokoro’s feet and hands being gone, there weren’t any other noticeable injuries on her body, but that could be due to the fact that she was completely frozen… though I can’t say I’ve seen a frozen body, so I can’t say that’s the reason for sure…

“Did you find anything?” 

I turned around to see Sora looking over my shoulder. I turned to face her and began to speak.

“Nothing that we can’t already see, but I’m curious as to why she is only in her underwear. Like, why would the culprit take her clothes off in the first place?”

“There must have been some reason, I did find her clothes under the bed. Maybe it’s so she can freeze faster?” Sora said.

“I don’t know who the culprit is, but I won’t let them off easy. To leave Kokoro in a state like this? It’s absolutely horrible… I do honestly want to cover her body up, but Syobai is right I just… to be found dead like this… it’s just awful…” I sighed.

“Oh! (Y/n)! Did you investigate the bed?” Iroha asked.

“The bed?”

“Yeah! When I was looking around, I noticed blood stains on the bed.”

“Oh yeah, I saw them too.” Sora said.

“Yeah, aren’t they from the disconnected hands and feet?”

“No no, there are dry blood stains.”

_Dry?_

“Yeah, over here” Sora pointed to a blood stain on the sheets that was slightly different from the others, “It looks like some time has passed for these stains to dry, the texture and color proves that.”

“I see… the blood from the disconnected hands and feet are from when the frozen blood vessels started to melt… so that means Kokoro’s hands and feet must have been cut off after she was completely frozen… the dry blood stains were before this then…” I wrote it down in my notebook when Yuki walked over and spoke to me.

“Um, (Y/n), you, Hajime, and Teruya delivered Kokoro’s breakfast this morning, right?”

“Oh, yes, we did.”

“So is it true that the plate from her dinner that I left last night was gone?”

“Yes it was.”

“May I ask you what you did this morning then? Other than bring the food, of course?”

“Well, the first thing I did was drop off Kokoro’s food with Teruya and Hajime, but Kokoro didn’t answer so we left the food in front of her door. After that, Hajime and I parted ways with Teruya so we could go on a walk. We were outside of the monocruise since this morning, and came back when we heard the body discovery announcement.” I said.

“I see. Also the breakfast you three left here is still at the front door untouched, because of this, it’s likely Kokoro was already dead by this morning…” Yuki said in response while looking at me intently.

“What’s with that look, are you suspecting me again?” I scoffed and put a hand to my hip.

“No, not yet. It’s useless to suspect someone when the trial hasn't even started. Yuki, we need to look for more clues now.” Sora said before she and Yuki walked away.

_Great, they definitely suspect me. And no doubt they suspect Hajime too…_

“Iroha, you keep guarding the body okay? I’m going to look around.”

“Oh.. O-okay!”

I gave Iroha a nod before stepping away from the bed and walking over to a far corner of the room where Setsuka was standing, “Hey Setsuka, did you find anything?”

“Yeah actually, look at this.” Setsuka gestured to a large drum container, which was very out of place in Kokoro’s room. Leaning closer I was able to see the words ‘Caution: Liquid Nitrogen’ printed on the front. It can freeze things in an instant. I recall using some type of Liquid Nitrogen when making a special Berry Ice Cream dessert with my mother when the (L/n) CandyLand first opened up. It was such a success. Just like me. I’m perfect.

Wait, I’m supposed to be investigating a murder, not thinking about how perfect I am.

Even though I am perfect.

I carefully opened the lid only to find it completely empty… This seems like an important clue.

“They must have used this to freeze Kokoro. This can freeze stuff immediately.” I said.

“No, if they used liquid nitrogen, there would definitely be traces left somewhere…” Setsuka spoke, “If they put Kokoro on the bed, then poured the liquid nitrogen on her, the sheets and bed should be frozen as well.”

“You’re right… the bed and sheets weren’t frozen at all, but the air definitely is…” I said, “Maybe they put Kokro in the container and then pulled her out- wait no, then the culprit’s hands would freeze as well…”

“The container is completely empty as well, if they used it there should be traces left inside.” Setsuka said.

_So they didn’t use it at all?_

“I’m going to keep investigating, thanks for the info Setsuka!” I said and I headed towards the other side of the room where Kanade was standing before a small refrigerator. I looked inside and noticed that… the divider was tilted?

I grabbed it and moved it a bit. I guess the divider is removable…

“Oh, (Y/n), you saw that too?” Kanade asked.

“The divider? It does seem kinda suspicious but-”

“Not that! Don’t tell me you missed it! The dying message!”

…

I looked at the refrigerator again, which is empty, before looking back at Kanade with a raised eyebrow.

What the fuck? 

“Come on (Y/n), see the bottom compartment over there?”

I looked to where Kanade was pointing to see 9 icicles of different sizes. Though one of the smaller ones had the largest stabbed through it…

“...These icicles?”

“Yep! That’s the dying message!” Kanade confirmed.

???

“These icicles… are a dying message? I thought they just dropped down or something…”

“Listen, (Y/n), there are two things we can deduce from these icicles. First, the refrigerator’s output is set to maximum power, the refrigerators in our rooms can be set to instant freezing or defrost modes. This refrigerator is set to instant freeze mode.” Kanade clarified.

I took note of Kanade’s words before speaking again, “Okay, and the second thing?”

“Kokoro used these icicles to leave a dying message. Take a closer look.”

Looking closer to the icicles, I was able to see each of the 9 icicles had letters carved on the wider sides. One side says F, and the other says O. At closer inspection, they were certainly carved on purpose, they weren’t simply scratches.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed two icicles are overlapped. The larger one is penetrating the smaller one. But the smaller one has F and I engraved instead of F and O.”

“It… does look like that.” I agreed, “But how did you know this is a dying message?”

“Well, the icicles were lined up in a strange way, not to mention the instant freezing mode on the refrigerator was very suspicious as well.”

“So, what does it mean?”

“Seriously? Does the dying message have any other reason then to reveal the killer?”

“Wait, does that mean you’ve figured out the killer?”

“That’s… I can’t tell you right now, I’m still not completely sure… but don’t worry I’ll figure it out before the trial.” Kanade chuckled before turning back to inspect the icicles.

“Okay then…”

A dying message? _That still seems like a bit of a stretch…_

But Kanade is… creepy smart so…

I may as well keep that in mind.

I then walked over to the table when I noticed a student handbook just sitting there, “Is this Kokoro’s?”

“I believe so. That handbook is making things so much more complicated.”

I looked over my shoulder and saw Nikei, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, think about it. Someone’s room can only be opened by their own handbook. The handbook is still inside Kokoro’s room where she died.”

“So this is a locked room mystery huh?” I muttered quietly as I examined the handbook, “Kokoro refused to open the door unless it was for her meals, so you think someone who was here to give her food must have used the chance to kill Kokoro?”

“It’s impossible. There always had to be three people there to drop off, Teruya being there every time. They would only have the chance if they were alone.”

“That’s true… but there is no other possible way to enter these rooms, so the only possible time would be when her food was being delivered…” I was silent for a moment before an idea came to me, “Hey Nikei, if someone had stolen Kokoro’s handbook, they could come and go whenever they wanted, right? They could have taken it when they gave her food so they could enter anytime.”

“That’s not possible either, you need the owner's fingerprint to even turn on the handbook. Even if it was left on, the handbook turns off after a certain amount of time. So unless you re-enter the room right after, you won’t be able to go back inside.”

“Dang… I thought I was onto something…” I huffed and set the handbook back down, “If we don’t find the secret behind this locked room mystery, this class trial will be harder than the last… well, it’s going to be harder without Kokoro anyways…”  
  


I turned away and walked over towards the corner near the door to investigate more.

“(Y/n)! How is your investigation going?”

I rolled my eyes at the sound of Mikado’s voice, “Fine… but go away, I need to look over here.” I gestured for him to get out of my way.

“But wait! I found a clue!”

…

“...Fine, show it to me.”

Mikado held up a small empty bag with the top cut off. It was dry Ice, “See! This open bag of dry ice I found on the floor!”

I examined it for a moment and began to take notes, “Is this how they froze Kokoro then?”

“I don’t know, but it would be difficult to freeze someone with just these. You could freeze some parts, but certainly not all of Kokoro’s body. But the open bag shows that the culprit must have used it in some way, perhaps the low temperature of the room is related to that.”

“Thanks Mikado…” I said quietly, but I could see the happiness appear on Mikado's face- well, mask.

“You’re quite welcome (Y/n)! It feels wonderful to get a thanks! When I told Sora she simply ignored me!”

“...Uh huh.” Before Mikado could speak another word I turned away towards the door where Hajime stood, “Hey, Hajime, I’m going to be investigating outside of the room, I feel like there might be some other important things that aren’t here.”

“Alright, be careful.” He said, but he sounded a bit distressed.

“Are you alright Hajime? You seem nervous…”

“I’m not nervous… it’s just…” Hajime sighed before crossing his arms and continuing his sentence, "...I just know everyone is going to think I'm the culprit. They’ll probably do anything they can to pin everything on me…”

“Well, they won’t because…” I trailed off as I tried to think of the right words, “...I’ll protect you!”

Hajime gave me an amused look, “You’ll _protect me_ , huh?”

“Mmhmm!”

“...Thanks, (Y/n).”

I gave him a genuine smile before exiting Kokoro’s room and entering the hallway where I saw Shinji standing near the balcony.

“Hey Shinji.”

As soon as he realized I was there, his face became a bright red and he began to stutter like crazy, “O-oh! H-hey (Y/n)...”

“What are you doing by the balcony door?”

“W-well, I went jogging earlier today and saw something on the balcony. I-It was like a long white cloth being pulled up towards the balcony. But when I came t-to check… there was nothing here…”

I began to take notes again, “Hmm… Shinji, do you think it would be possible to leave the monocruise from the balcony?”

“H-Huh? Why?”

“Well… the windows are all closed here, so other than the main entrance, the balcony would be the only way out.”

“W-well… the balcony is really high up, and the water level is r-really low, so if you try to get down, you will probably get some bruises…”

“Well, you could use some kind of rope to climb down, right?” I asked.

  
“I-I guess it wouldn’t be impossible.”

“Thanks Shinji, you were a big help!” I gave him a wave goodbye as I headed for the exit of the ship.

“O-oh! You’re welcome (Y-Y/n)!” Shinji… shouted.

  
  


_ _ _ _ _ 

  
  


I walked inside the museum and immediately made my way towards the dressing room… I’m not sure why, but I just felt like there might be something there…

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Teruya- who immediately stepped back in terror, “Woah! (Y/n)! You scared me…”

“Sorry Teruya… um, why did you go inside the dressing room?”

“Oh yeah, I was checking the items list for the dressing room.”

“There’s an items list in there? I never noticed it before… were you checking to see if something was missing?”

  
“Yeah, but there wasn't any. There are item lists in the store and the fitness center. I guess they are hard to notice too. I’ve been checking them all one by one.”

“Yeah, they have them everywhere in Yutaka Hospital- wait, you’ve been checking all of them?”

“Yeah, I always do.”

What the hell?

“Oh my god… Teruya… you do this everyday? What the heck?”

“It’s not that weird!” Teruya defended himself, “Plus, as soon as I heard the words ‘killing game’ I knew I should check these things everyday… for some reason I felt like something bad will happen if I don’t.”

I guess that is understandable… pretty useful too.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong then?”

  
“Actually, there is one weird thing…” Teruya showed me a wig near the door, it was black and had… tiny glass shards in it? “One of the wigs had some shards in it. It might be nothing, but it just seems weird.”

“No… I don’t know why, but I actually think this could be important, thank you, Teruya.” I said as I wrote in my notebook.

Suddenly, Monocrow’s voice echoed through the speakers.

_“Well! I think that’s enough time for an investigation! If you were busy you must have plenty of clues for the case! Everyone please gather at the entrance to the trial grounds on the first floor. If you’re late, there will be a punishment for you~!”_

“C’mon Teruya, we should be heading to the trial grounds.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

It was that time again. Time for everyone to return to the places they once stood during the last class trial. Time for everyone to debate for their lives. Time to find the truth. All of us would go there, except for Yuri Kagarin, Yoruko Kabuya, and now Kokoro Mitsume.

And if we leave alive, all of us will return to the killing game.

Well, _almost_ all of us.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Y/n)'s mouth: What the heck.
> 
> (Y/n)'s mind: What the fuck.


	21. Chapter 2 - Class Trial - 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was talking with someone about Protect Me and they said the story summary thing seems like it adds too much emphasis on the relationship between Hajime and (Y/n), making it seem like their relationship is the only main focus of the story when that's not exactly the case. And looking at the original summary along with everything I have planned for later in the story, I totally agree with them... so yeah. I changed the beginning summary, But not the story of course.

“You’ve finally come! I have been waiting.”

Looking around the class trial grounds, I couldn’t help but notice the scenery looked different than before. Rather than the red and gold color scheme I had expected, it had been replaced with a strong green. Which made the atmosphere… oddly soothing? Yeah.

Just a tiny bit though.

The rest of me was filled to the brim with fear.

“This place looks different this time…” 

“Ah, yes. I thought it would be boring to see the same room over and over, so I changed the design a bit.” Monocrow said from his usual throne. I suppose he didn’t change that.

Hm.

“Well then, please take your places at the podiums where your names are written, I’m sure you remember where they are. You’ve done this once, so you know how it goes.” Monocrow said, “Now let’s start! A death game where your lives are on the line!”

We all walked over to our assigned podiums. I once again took my place in between Syobai and Setsuka. It felt strange standing here again, and seeing that two more people no longer stood by us in this circle of debates and despair, knowing that we would once again have to look for a killer, knowing that we would lose yet another friend by the end of it all.

Or perhaps, that friend would lose us instead.

  
  


**_Time won’t wait for us, and it’s finally starting._ **

**_The trial of life or death._ **

**_The lie of life or death._ **

**_The betrayal on life or death._ **

**_The truth of life or death._ **

**_The excuse of life or death._ **

**_The trust on life or death._ **

**_Life or death…_ **

**_The class trial._ **

  
  


“...We’re looking for the person who killed Kokoro…” Yuki was the first to speak. Though his words were met with a long silence.

“Where should we start? I honestly have no idea…”

“Everyone, there is something I need to tell you all first!” Mikado announced, having absolutely no attention turn to him.

Well, we _heard_ him, but we didn’t acknowledge him.

“I have no idea what could have happened…” Hajime said with a sigh. It was clear he was purposefully dismissing Mikado’s words. I may have laughed if it wasn’t for our current situation.

“Mikado, you’ve got some nerve to speak to us right now.” Shinji said.

“Is it just me, or is my identity slowly fading out of existence?” Mikado sighed, “I have said this before, but since it’s getting worse I’ll say it again. You can ignore me all you want elsewhere, but you must listen to me during class trials. I myself, did some investigating and would love to help solve this case with you guys!”

_Well... I guess that’s true._

“...I agree that we should listen to Mikado.” Sora said.

“Eh? Is that alright?”

“Sora is right,” I agreed with a nod, despite wishing his assistance was useless “It’s not like Mikado can let us fail considering what will happen, he’ll die too. And even testimony from him is still kind of important.”

I hope.

“Ah! What a woman you are (Y/n)!”

Yeah, okay...

“But most importantly, he could be a potential blackened. And though he is a good for nothing piece of garbage, he still might have found good evidence.”

“Well… If both (Y/n) and Sora say so… it should be fine…” Iroha said.

“Then I shall show you my ultimate piece of evidence that will restore your trust in me!”

“You mean you’ve already solved the case?” Nikei questioned Mikado.

  
“...Well no, not yet.”

“You’re making us lose focus!”

“Agreed. But just like (Y/n) said,” Setsuka began, “We shouldn’t completely ignore him, but right now let’s proceed. Why don’t we go over the flow of what happened? Kokoro would have done so…”

“Yeah… without Kokoro… we have no one to rely on other than ourselves…”

“Don’t worry sis! I’m here for you!”

“Guys, cheer up. We can do this, for Kokoro.” Emma said, a look of pure determination on her face.

  
  


_I’m surprised she wasn’t crying. I may not have spent much time with her like I have Hajime, Iroha, and sometimes Teruya… but they were close right? At least I think they were…_

_Maybe I'm just assuming things after all…_

  
  


“A-alrighty then… the summary of the case…”  
  


“It’s easier said than done… How should we do this?”

“Let’s talk about what happened before Kokoro’s body was found.” Emma suggested.

“So we found the dead body around lunch time. Sora, Teruya and I went to bring her lunch.” Yuki said, “But there was no answer… and we became anxious about her.”

“Then I heard the commotion and joined you. So I called Monocrow to open the door…”  
  


“And when we entered, Kokoro was dead…”

“That would mean Kokoro died around lunch time.”

…

_Wait… that wouldn't be possible._

“Wait, Shinji, we can’t be sure about that.” I interrupted.

“W-why? If the body was found at that time, then…”

“Just because the body was found at lunch, doesn't mean she died then. That’s what you were thinking, right (Y/n)?” Sora asked.

“Yes, not to mention the Monocrow file says the time of death is unknown.”

“Speaking of the Monocrow file, it wasn’t very helpful this time, was it?” Hajime asked. 

“Probably because the body was frozen.” Kanade said, “Even police officers and doctors have trouble figuring out the time of death for frozen bodies.”  
  


  
_Why does she know all these weird things? I thought she was the ultimate guitarist, not the ultimate ‘I know a lot of stuff about death’ person._

_…_

_Y’know what? Maybe I should keep an eye on her._

  
  


“But if the time is unknown, then it’s possible Kokoro did die around lunch time, right?” Iroha said.

“Well, yes, but it’s very low.”

“Then I guess we should be trying to figure out when Kokoro actually died.”

“Wait, do we really need to? The culprit is already clear as day.” Nikei said, catching the attention of everyone.

  
  


_He knows who Kokoro’s killer is…?_

  
  


...

“What? Nikei, you already know the culprit?” I asked.

“Who is it?! Who is the blackened?!”

“ _Hajime Makunouchi_. Do I need to say more?”

  
  


Ugh,

...Of course he’d say that…

  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Hajime said with an annoyed tone in his voice. Even with his sunglasses on, I could tell his thoughts right away.

_Disappointed but not surprised._

  
“Hajime is K-Kokoro’s killer?”

I felt a bit irritated as Nikei accused Hajime.

**_How dare he accuse him just like that?_ **

_There is no way he could possibly be the culprit- or would! Even if his decision to avoid having to murder as much as possible was total bullshit, he’d have to be the stupidest person on the planet to retry so soon after Yuri’s death._

  
“W-wait! Seriously?! Don’t tell me you're just suspecting him because he’s a void! Hajime is our friend! He wouldn’t try to kill again.” I tried to defend him.

“But Hajime’s the one who gave Kokoro her breakfast this morning, yes? That’s the only period of time someone would be able to get to Kokoro.”

“W-what?”

  
“Nikei certainly has a point,” Mikado said, “She was already dead when the Sora crew arrived during lunchtime… So the mealtime before then is the most suspicious, and Hajime was the one who went to visit her then.”

“Wait-! How could Hajime kill her!? Hajime was with me and Teruya at that time!”

“She’s right.” Teruya agreed, “And the whole point of me joining every visit was so nobody could try to kill Kokoro while she's sick.”

“So that would mean you three are in the same boat.”

_What..?_

“...Huh?” Hajime raised an eyebrow.

  
“So... you mean accomplices?” Emma asked.

**_What!?_ **

  
“But there is nothing to gain as an accomplice.” Yuki said, “And Teruya is not a void, so he wouldn’t commit murder in the first place!”

  
  


_...I don’t believe Teruya is the culprit, and that’s the truth… but I don’t believe a non-void wouldn’t commit murder in a killing game…_

_I honestly had considered doing it myself at one point, but I knew I couldn’t bring myself to go through with it…_

_But that might not be the case for everyone._

_**In fact, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if a non-void would be the next to kill.** _

_Who am I kidding, that wouldn’t happen haha._

_**...right?** _

  
  


“Can we be sure about that though? I suppose the chance is low, but in the end, Mikado is the one who brought him here right? I honestly thought it was ridiculous to trust a stranger so naively like that. Not to mention the fact that Hajime is confirmed to be a void and was one of the three.” Nikei tried to reason.

“That’s crazy! I’m a kidnapped victim brought here because of Mikado.”

“You’re one to talk, Nikei. Immediately pinning me, (Y/n), and Teruya as culprits makes you seem pretty suspicious…” Hajime said.

“Seriously? Don’t you see, there are no time periods for the murder if you three weren’t working together. Sure there are no incentives for accomplices, but Monocrow didn’t deny the possibility.”

  
  


_This can’t be happening again._

  
  


“You-! Ugh, guys! Say something!” I said as I gestured to the rest of them, feeling desperate to clear the names of me and my friends.

  
  


_Please help._

  
  


“(Y/n), I know how you feel, but he does have a point.”

  
  


**_Please._ **

  
  


“I…”  
  


“Why are we being accused as the culprits?” Hajime asked Nikei.

  
“Considering the order, the time when you went to deliver Kokoro’s breakfast is the only possible time for the crime to be committed. And let’s not forget that you, Hajime, are a void, and therefore the most suspicious.”

“But Teruya and I were with him.” I said.

“Yeah! And he didn’t do anything suspicious the whole time!”

“Like Nikei says, there is a possibility of you three being accomplices.”

No.

“Kokoro was eating her meals up until last night, and the body was found today at lunch. So if something happened to Kokoro, it would have to be during this morning.”

_No._

“These three don’t have a good alibi, and there are no others more suspicious than them.”

**_Stop it._ **

“Actually, If we’re talking about their alibis, I have two Nikei.” Sora cut in.

_...What?_ _  
  
_

“I was investigating a bit with Yuki this morning outside and we saw Hajime and (Y/n) walking together. Based on the time of day, they must have taken a walk as soon as they left.”

“Yeah, when there was no answer, (Y/n) left the meal in front of her door, then we went for a walk together.” Hajime confirmed.

“It’s true! Kanade and I saw them too!” Hibiki stated.

“See? There are plenty of witnesses proving our innocence.” I said, my heart rate finally calming down.

“Alright… If (Y/n) and Hajime are off the suspect list, then what about Teruya?” Emma asked, “He entered Kokoro’s room every visit. There could have been plenty of chances for him to kill her.”

“Kokoro said she would only open the door if three or more people came to visit her. Thus, if anyone entered Kokoro’s room to kill her, we’d have more than one culprit.”

“Now that me and Hajime’s alibi has been confirmed, it would have been impossible for Teruya to kill Kokoro on his own. Therefore, the theory of me, Hajime, and Teruya being accomplices is disproven-”

“No, that alone isn’t going to suffice as a valid alibi.” Nikei interrupted me, “The evidence in Kokoro’s room supports that. Sorry, but as a reporter, it’s my instinct to pursue every last detail of what I find suspicious. So let me present you this evidence and see if you can retaliate.”

_Seriously?_ Ugh.

And a new argument begins...

“So after delivering breakfast, Hajime and (Y/n) went on their walk. That much I can understand. But either of them could have easily killed Kokoro quickly, and then left to go on their walk. Basically they entered the room with Teruya to kill Kokoro, and then left to go on their walk as an alibi.”

“Nikei,” I cut in, “You saw Kokoro’s corpse, right? It was frozen solid. Could Hajime and I have done something like that in such a short amount of time? And you can’t say it took less time since we were working together, because an accomplice wouldn’t affect how long it would take her body to freeze.”

“There is a way you two could freeze Kokoro instantly. You used the liquid nitrogen, the evidence was in her room. If you two killed Kokoro and poured the liquid nitrogen on her body, Kokoro’s corpse would instantly freeze.”

“No, Nikei, if you’re saying that I, or Hajime used the liquid nitrogen to freeze Kokoro, you’re wrong.” I said.

“What are you talking about? We all saw the empty drum barrel of liquid nitrogen in the room.”

“If someone used the liquid nitrogen to freeze Kokoro, there would be traces left in the room, but nothing in the room had frozen traces on it. The only thing frozen was Kokoro’s body, right Setsuka?” Sora questioned.

  
“Yeah, no traces mean the liquid nitrogen was probably never used.”

“Maybe she was frozen in some other room before being brought back in?” 

  
“That would have taken a lot of time. Nikei’s proposition is that the crime was done in a short time. If (Y/n) and Hajime, our assumed culprits, had taken the time to move and freeze the body like that, it wouldn’t explain how we saw them on their walk so early this morning.”

“So (Y/n), Hajime, and Teruya are innocent?” Iroha asked.

Yes!

“I’ve been telling you guys that from the start.”

“I know from a time standpoint we are suspicious, but aren’t you being a bit cruel, Nikei?” Teruya said.

“Hmph.”

“You got a problem, Nikei?” Hajime asked.

  
“Now, now, let's stop fighting.” Setsuka cut in before any more drama ensued. “Since our suspicion on Hajime, (Y/n), and Teruya is cleared, we can get back to the case.”

“I wonder what the liquid nitrogen was for… although not for freezing Kokoro, the culprit must have used it right? Seeing that they left it in the room.”

“No, that was probably a red herring.” Kanade stated.

“A red herring? But the drum label had ‘liquid nitrogen’ on it!”

“I’m saying that they probably just stuck the label on an empty barrel. The barrel was not for carrying liquid nitrogen anyways, and the angle of the label was suspicious as well.”

“Wait, how did Kokoro get frozen then?” Hajime asked.

“It must have been Yuki Onna’s curse after all! There’s no other way that a person would suddenly freeze!”

_Seriously_ Iroha…?

“No… it’s probably the refrigerator.”

“The refrigerator?! The culprit froze Kokoro with a refrigerator?”

“Excluding the liquid nitrogen, the only thing left that’s capable of freezing someone is the refrigerator but…”

“Is there proof that the refrigerator was used?” Nikei asked.

  
“The divider in Kokoro’s refrigerator was crooked.” I said, recalling what I had noticed during the investigation, “Maybe the culprit moved it to place Kokoro inside of the refrigerator, and then put it back once they took her out?”

“Well, Kokoro is quite small, so if they put her inside a refrigerator, she would definitely fit.” Mikado agreed.

"I think we should also take note of the fact that the refrigerator was set to instant freeze mode. If you’ve used it before, it’s not difficult to tell it could easily freeze a human being.” Kanade mentioned.

“Wait, even if it was set to instant freeze, freezing some leftovers and a whole human being are two completely different stories.” Nikei brought up, “The monocrow file says she was frozen to the point that her cells suffered from necrosis. If she was frozen that badly, that means the culprit left her in there for at least a whole day.”

“Wait, does this mean Kokoro had to be in there since lunchtime yesterday?”

  
“Yuki, when you, Teruya, and I were delivering her dinner there was no answer, right?”

“Y-yeah… but (Y/n) says that the dinner was gone that night.”

“That doesn’t make sense… maybe (Y/n) as lying…?”

Lying!?

  
“What? Why would I lie about that!?”

  
“If the refrigerator theory is correct, that means Kokoro must have already been inside the refrigerator during supper last night.”

“If (Y/n) or Hajime are the culprits…”

“Wait, (Y/n) and Hajime never visited Kokoro yesterday. They never had a chance to enter the room or anything.” Teruya said.

  
  


_I guess figuring out who brought food yesterday should be the next step._

_I think it could be important to figure out who had brought Kokoro’s meals the last few days._

  
  


“Okay, who delivered breakfast yesterday?”

  
“Me, Iroha, and Teruya.” Sora spoke.

“And you met with Kokoro?”

  
“Yup! And we chatted for awhile! Kokoro even wrote ‘lol’ on her iPad… it was such a lovely time…” Iroha said with a sigh.

Okay… good to know Iroha.

“That means she was alive at that time.”

“Who was there for lunch?”

“Me, Kanade, Shinji, and Mr. Teruya.” Hibiki said.

“And did you guys meet with Kokoro?”

  
“Of course! She complained about four people being too many…” Shinji said, loudly. Nothing unusual.

“Things are getting a bit too complicated. Can someone summarize it?”

“Iroha, can I have a page from your sketchbook please?” Setsuka asked.

  
“O-okay.”

Setsuka took the paper from Iroha and spent a few minutes writing on the paper before showing it to the rest of us.

  
  


**Day 1 (First day where Kokoro was sick) -**

**Breakfast - Sora, Yuki, Teruya**

**Lunch - (Y/n), Setsuka, Teruya**

**Dinner - Yuki, Nikei, Teruya**

**Day 2 (Yesterday) -**

**Breakfast - Sora, Iroha, Teruya**

**Lunch (Last seen) - Shinji, Hibiki, Kanade, Teruya**

**Dinner (No answer) - Yuki, Emma, Teruya**

**Day 3 (Today) -**

**Breakfast (No answer) - (Y/n), Hajime, Teruya**

**Lunch (Body found) - Sora, Yuki, Teruya**

  
  


_Emma only went once…?_

“If we summarized what we talked about, this is our result. So let’s think about the flow of the case with this.”

“This… if we simply think about this, Kokoro didn’t answer since yesterday night at dinner. That means something definitely happened then.” Yuki said.

“D-does that mean the visitors right before are the culprits? Shinji, Teruya, and the twins?”

  
“What!? Iroha! Why are we the culprits?”

“I don’t think there would be four accomplices,” I said, “Especially when the chance of there being one accomplice is already very low. But if what Yuki is saying is right, someone must have killed Kokoro between lunch and dinner yesterday.”

“Wait, that’s impossible.” Nikei countered, “You can’t enter Kokoro’s room when it is not mealtime. That was a rule that Kokoro made herself.”

“...And we saw her dinner disappear, so she should’ve been alive since then, right?” Hajime asked.

  
“But that wouldn’t be enough time to freeze Kokoro.”

...

“This means nobody is able to murder her, if someone was to kill Kokoro, they needed to enter her room, but the only time they could was during our visits…” Emma speculated, “I think the refrigerator is the root of the problem. Perhaps the culprit didn’t use it after all?”

_But how else could they have frozen her?_

  
“No, I don’t think so Emma, since the liquid nitrogen was a red herring, the refrigerator is the only other way the culprit could have frozen Kokoro.”

“But we could have only entered her room during mealtime.”

“This… this is a complete locked room mystery.”

“This is hard…”

“I… honestly still can’t wrap my head around what’s going on…”

…

There was a long silence…

  
  
  


...Before Iroha happened.

  
  
  


“I knew it! It’s the ice woman! Yuki Onna! Monocrow, end this class trial right now! It wasn’t a murder! IT’S A CURSE!”

I face palmed.

“End the class trial?” Monocrow responded, “I don’t mind that at all. I assume you give up on finding the culprit then?”

...

“Well… that’s not… I mean, does a culprit exist in the first place? It seems impossible for everyone…”

  
  


_Obviously there is a culprit… but..._

_Is there any clue pointing towards the culprit? I’m starting to feel really nervous. What do I do? What do_ **_we_ ** _do? If we can’t figure anything out, we’re all going to die, and the culprit will escape._

**_What can I do?_ **

Silence.

My heart was pounding as millions of thoughts ran through my head, I felt more and more stressed by the moment. But just as not being able to fully grasp anything was starting to become too much...

“The culprit exists.” 

...

Kanade broke the silence, “This is a case where if you think about the method first, it gets more difficult. How about we break this thought process by finding the culprit first? The evidence points towards the culprit… I’m sure someone has to know it, right (Y/n)?”

_What…?_

_…_

_Wait…_

_Is she talking about the…?_

_..._

_God damn it._

_She totally is._

_She wants me to bring it up?_

_...This better actually be what Kanade thinks it is or i’m going to die of embarrassment._

_  
_“ Um… you’re talking about the dying message, right? If we can figure out how it could possibly make sense, we can find out the culprit… hopefully.”

“There was a dying message?”

“Yeah… the icicles inside the refrigerator, a-at least that’s what Kanade says… if you look closely at the icicles there are letters carved into them, ‘F’ and ‘O’. Probably carved by Kokoro’s nails. Here, I tried to draw a sketch in my notebook.”

I flipped to a page in my notebook that I kept bookmarked with my pencil. And held it up to show the rest of my classmates.

“Two of them are stuck together… wait, is one stabbed through another?”

“This seems complicated…”

“It’s quite easy actually.” Kanade said with a smirk, “I’ve identified the culprit by using it.”

“What?! Kanade, who’s the culprit?!”

“I’ll explain who it is right now with this dying message! Can you pass me your notebook real quick, (Y/n)?” Kanade gestured for me to give it to her.

  
  


**_...I can’t just give it to her._ **

**_I have too many things I can’t talk about that are written inside._ **

**_What if she sees…?_ **

  
  


“U-um, here, I’ll rip out the page, you’re the one who knows what to do with it.” I tore out a page before leaving my podium to hand the paper to Kanade.

“Thank you (Y/n).” Kanade said as I returned to my place, “Now, these icicles… it looks like they are randomly placed, but there are exactly 9 of them. On each end, ‘F’ and ‘O’ are carved into them. And if you look closely here, two of them are stuck together. The penetrated icicle is different from the others since it has ‘I’ instead of ‘O’ written on it.”

“So that means…?”

“F stands for female. There are 9 icicles, and there are 9 of us- well, there _were_ nine of us, we can exclude Yoruko…”

I felt a harp pain in my chest at the mention of Yoruko’s name.

  
  


**_Why couldn’t she have just been allowed to live? She didn’t deserve to die._ **

**_Yuri didn’t deserve it._ **

**_Kokoro didn’t deserve it._ **

**_That woman who was with Teruya didn’t deserve it._ **

**_I couldn't protect them._ **

**_The only one who deserves this horrible fate, is the person who killed Kokoro and left her in such a horrible state._ **

...

_Oh, and Mikado too._

  
  


“-And the O stands for others.” I snapped out of my thoughts as Kanade spoke again.

“So I’m guessing ‘I’ literally stands for I, as in myself?”

“Yup! Looks like you’ve got a pretty smart brain there Hajime. So one of the 7 remaining ‘O’s is penetrating ‘I’. Since it was Kokoro who did this, we can interpret this message as ‘one of the girls killed me’.” Kanade explained.

“But this doesn’t pinpoint the culprit at all. It just tells us that the culprit is a girl.”

“Actually, we can take one step further to deduce the killer’s identity as well. Look carefully at the icicles, they may seem similar, but the ‘O’ icicle that penetrated the ‘I’ icicle is longer than the others. Keeping up with the icicle theory, we can assume the lengths probably represent our height.”

“Are you suggesting the tallest out of the females is the culprit?”

_Wait… the tallest out of the female students…_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“...Emma?”

  
  


  
  



	22. Chapter 2 - Class Trial - 2

“The person in the message… it must be pointing to you…”

It was completely silent in the room, not a single word spoken, until...

I could see the look of shock and betrayal slowly appear on Emma’s face after those words left my mouth.

“...What?”

The tone of her voice… the guilt I felt just by speaking.

It was immediate.

“Emma’s the culprit?!”

“Huh? (Y/n), why would Emma be the killer?”

I looked down at my hands that were gripping my podium, I felt hesitant to look up at anyone or give my answer.

So thank god Sora exists.

“I don’t know, but if what Kanade is saying about the message is true, that would be the answer. If the tallest out of the girls is the culprit, then Emma is our main suspect.” Sora said.

“Yeah… but still…”

“H-how… how could you… both of you.” Tears welled up in Emma’s eyes.

I felt sick to my stomach. I hated this. I hated making her feel like this during such a time, for heaven's sake, her friend was just murdered!

There’s no way _Emma killed Kokoro_ … right?

  
  
“I…”

“(Y/n), Sora, I’m being honest and trying to find the culprit who killed Kokoro… and you are accusing me?” Emma spoke, “If you are trying to joke around, it is not funny!”

...

“(Y/n), Sora, regardless of the dying message… Emma was Kokoro’s best friend. Not to mention she was most upset out of all of us when Kokoro died.” Setsuka said.

  
  


...

_I mean… that’s true. There’s no way I could bring myself to ever kill Iroha or Hajime, Teruya too. I could never bring myself to kill anyone._

**_...I think._ **

  
  


I let out a sigh and faced the group again, “...Maybe Setsuka’s right. The dying message could mean something else, we don’t have enough decisive clues.”

  
  


_How were we supposed to consider some weird icicles that were just laying at the bottom of the refrigerator a dying message? It’s too weird…_

**_...But Kanade is super smart…_ **

  
  
  


“Seriously? Are you a bunch of idiots?” Kanade scoffed in disbelief at my words, “And you, (Y/n), saw the message with your very own eyes, my interpretation is as perfect as can be. Why are you doubting it?”

“I mean... are we seriously accusing Emma…? I just can’t see it…”

“Hm. Well, once we can all decide Emma is the culprit, everything will make sense.” Kanade stated.

“H-how dare you… why would you think that I am…” Emma held her hands to her chest, stuttering as she failed to hide her despair.

“Kanade… you’re being mean to Emma,” Hibiki spoke up, “There’s no way she could be-”

“Sis, would you please shut the hell up and be useless without getting in the way?”

  
  


Wow, okay. 

Rude.

  
  


“Kanade!”

“Hm… It seems Miss Kanade has already solved this case.” Mikado said, a smile appearing on his mask.

“But judging by the reaction, it feels like a delusion from Miss little sis.” Nikei said.

Kanade began to laugh, a disturbing expression appearing on her face “Kahaha! Delusion? Fufufufu…”

“Kanade… what’s wrong?”

  
“Don’t you all understand? Emma’s talent is the key to this mystery~!”  
  


…

_Emma’s talent… wait…_

…

**She’s…**

  
  


“Emma’s talent… is being the ultimate actress,” Sora spoke up, “Wouldn’t it be possible for her to act as someone else? What we thought before was denied because when Kokoro’s room was locked everyone had alibis. But what if the Kokoro we met wasn’t actually Kokoro?”

_A disguise?_

“Hold on, are you saying that Emma was disguising herself as Kokoro?” Hajime asked.

  
“Mhm, and if Kokoro was already dead at the time, it would be possible.”

“You mean the Kokoro we met was Emma…?”

I guess that’s possible… but how would Emma be able to disguise as Kokoro? Especially when people came to visit. Someone had to have noticed Kokoro wasn’t herself, right? It seems so… strange… but...

...

“Sora, are you insulting my ultimate talent in that way? Not only accusing me of murdering my friend, but ruining my talent as well!?” Tears were pouring down Emma’s cheeks at this point, despite her constantly wiping them away, they kept falling.

  
  


_I hate to see her cry…_

  
  


“Calm down, Emma, I know how you feel but-”

**_Do we really?_ **

“How can I calm down after hearing that? I just wanted to avenge Kokoro! I tried my best… I truly did…”

**_Didn’t we all?_ **

“I didn’t mean…”

**_Didn't mean what?_ **

“Sora, I think you have gone too far…”

**_As if things hadn’t gone far enough the moment we found Kokoro’s corpse._ **

“I just… I really don’t want to believe Emma is the killer,” I sighed, “Can we discuss this further before throwing around any more accusations? Maybe Kanade did make a little mistake after all.”

Kanade looked at me with a hate filled glare, but a smile was still present on her face, “Me? Making a mistake? Huhuhu… I didn’t know all of you were on the same level as my sister… so disappointing.”

“Ugh! How dare-”

“Just be quiet Hibiki, I told you I'd solve this for you! Useless Hibiki always has to rely on me, don’t you?”

“You’re so scary…” Hibiki muttered, but by the way her fists tightly clutched the sides of her podium, it wasn’t hard to tell she was beginning to get annoyed.

“Um… I also think it’s unfair to accuse Emma without more information.”

“No, I think Sora and Kanade are right.”

“I agree with them too!”

“You’re all too harsh on me…”

Everyone began to have difficulty making their decisions. Half of us believed in Emma, while the others doubted her words.

“Hmm, simmer down everyone. The class trial is a sacred and honorable place for competing wisdom, so any conflict has to be resolved with a discussion! Let us settle this with a proper debate!”

With Monocrow’s announcement, our podiums began to move until half of us were lined up on one side, and the rest of the students were on the other. I stood beside Teruya, Nikei, Iroha, Shinji, Setsuka, and Emma, ready to fight for Emma’s innocence, while Sora, Yuki, Mikado, Hibiki, Kanade, Hajime, and Syobai prepared to do the opposite.

  
  


“I was always with you guys, so I had no time to disguise myself.”

“How do we know that when you weren’t with us for the whole 24 hours, Emma?” Kanade asked.

“If Emma is the killer, there is no need for such a big effort as a disguise.”

“If you hear all of my reasoning, Setsuka, you’ll understand why she had to disguise.” Kanade stated.

“The Kokoro we met was the real Kokoro without a doubt. Wouldn’t it be hard to act perfectly as someone else?”

“Shinji, to act is her ultimate talent, is it not?” Sora questioned.

“Even if she had the perfect appearance, she couldn’t have imitated her voice.” 

“(Y/n), Kokoro couldn’t use her voice because of the disease!” Hibiki countered me.

“Kokoro and Emma have very different heights, so wouldn’t it be hard to disguise as one another?”

“Kokoro couldn’t get out of bed, Iroha. We didn’t get the change to check her height.” Yuki said.

“Even so, the case is not closed until we figure out a way to enter her dorm room.”

“There could be another way to enter Kokoro's room, we just need to figure it out, Nikei.” Hajime said.

“That’s our argument!”

Our podiums returned to their original places, and I crossed my arms, feeling upset that our defense for Emma seemed to crumble with every statement the others had given.

“There’s no end if we keep going like this.” Teruya said.

“I… I never expected to be accused like this…”

… :(

“When are we going to stop arguing? If you believe my reasoning, you’ll see Emma’s tears are totally fake as the trial progresses.” Kanade said while tapping her fingers continuously on her podium, clearly she was extremely impatient.

“Kanade, you’re being too harsh.”

“Alright then…” Emma began, “let’s assume the disguise is possible, even if that’s the case, what does it matter? There needs to be a way to enter Kokoro’s room for Kanade’s reasoning to be valid.”

“True, disguised or not, the only one able to enter Kokoro’s room alone is Kokoro herself, unless she opened the door, that is.”

  
  


_True… so if Emma truly was in disguise, how was she really able to pull it off? How was she able to enter Kokoro’s room? It's impossible, right?_

  
  


“Alright… then the biggest problem is figuring out how the culprit entered Kokoro’s dorm room.” I said.

“Hm, there were only three possible times someone would be able to enter her room. Mealtime that is.” Mikado stated

“We’re going in circles. The disguise is useless to discuss anyway.” Emma said.

“What are you talking about everyone? The culprit definitely had the chance!”

Huh? What does Kanade mea-

“When we entered Kokoro’s dorm without permission!”

…

“Huh? We did that? When?”

  
  
“After my sis and I had our performance, Kokoro suddenly fell down. When that happened, we used her student handbook to open the door!”

I totally forgot about that…

“That’s true… we used her fingerprints to use it and unlock her door.”

“But Kokoro was still alive then, so why would someone need to get in at that time?”

“Somebody could have taken the chance to steal her student handbook as the commotion was happening, and left the room with the handbook. Then they could enter the room freely without anything to stop them.” Kanade explained.

“And you mean that person is me?” Emma asked.

_Wait a second… the handbook..._

“Hold on Kanade, there is a loophole there!” I said.

“What are you talking about?” Kanade raised an eyebrow.

“If somebody stole Kokoro’s handbook, they would be able to enter the room freely, but there is the auto power saving system.”

“You mean when the handbook automatically turns off when nobody uses it for a while?” Hajime asked.

“Uh huh, so if someone stole Kokoro’s handbook, once it turns off it would be impossible for anyone to turn it back on besides Kokoro herself.”

“What if they constantly touch it to keep the power on?”

  
“Impossible. Yes you can manipulate another person’s handbook with your hands, with the power saving system activated, at some point it will still turn off on it’s own since the power only reacts to the owner's actual finger prints.” Mikado explained.

“That means the handbook will still turn off unless Kokoro is touching it.” I said, "Kanade, I’m sorry but your reasoning isn’t valid due to this problem.”

“Hehehe… can I ask a quick question?”

…?

  
  


“What is it?”

  
“Iroha, you keep insisting this case is the curse of Yuki Onna, yes? Can I ask why you believe that is the case?”

Ugh, not this again.

“Because Yuki Onna freezes the ones she hates and takes their hands and feet… and Kokoro was like that when we found her dead.”

  
  


_...Wait._

_...Don’t tell me._

  
  


“Yep! Kokoro died in the same way as the Yuki Onna curse… of course nobody but Iroha is dumb enough to believe it was actually cause by a curse…”

I was broken out of my thoughts by Kanade’s insult towards Iroha, “H-hey! That was super uncalled for!” I defended her.

“Anyways, if it’s not the curse, It’s a copycat crime, and the killer had a reason to do this.”

“And the reason is…?”

“It’s obviously to cover the trick of our locked room mystery! As (Y/n) pointed out, Kokoro’s handbook only recognizes her own finger prints and would be turned off even if another person kept touching it… so what if the culprit has Kokoro’s finger prints?”

_Oh my god…_

_That’s…_

“Are you trying to say… that’s why they cut off her hands?” Hajime asked.

“Mhm! The killer cut off Kokoro’s hands because they needed her finger prints.”

_**...Absolutely disgusting.** _

“That means the killer carried a severed hand, just to turn on the handbook? How would one do that? It’s not only a matter of hiding it, but what about blood and smell?”

  
“A-also they only needed the fingerprints, so why cut off the feet?”

  
“They didn’t need to carry around the hands and feet, all they needed was the fingertip!”

“Then why cut them all off?” Hibiki asked.

  
“Well, if Kokoro’s body only had one finger missing, I don’t think it would be too hard to figure out what happened.” Hajime said.

“Yeah, plus we only found Kokoro’s body after everything happened, so the culprit easily could have kept the fingertip and cut off the hands and feet one Kokoro was dead to complete the crime.” Setsuka pointed out.

“Finally you all understand my reasoning.” Kanade smirked.

...She’s so weird.

“There is no evidence of that, and why go through so much work for a single fingerprint?” Emma asked.

A thought popped into my head at Emma’s words… a tiny little thought… a tiny little detail…

_But a very important one._

  
“Actually… there is evidence. When we found the body, the ice began to melt and the… body began to bleed, but there was a dry bloodstain of the sheets. So that should be a trace of cutting the fingertip off before the hands and feet.”

“So how's that? Does this satisfy your troubles with locked room mystery?” Kanade asked.

“It… definitely explains how Emma could have entered Kokoro’s room to disguise as her.” Teruya said.

“Yes! And who was the last to come out of Kokoro’s room the night of the performance! It was Emma. If she was the last person in the room, she easily could have taken Kokoro’s handbook without being noticed. And after we all went to bed, the culprit returned to Kokoro’s room before the power went off. Perhaps this is when they cut off Kokoro's fingertip, locked her in the refrigerator, and the real and fake Kokoro switched places.”

“...It’s just as Kanade suspected… by finding the killer first and tracing back the information… we could understand what we couldn’t before.” Setsuka said.

“Fantastic! We’ve solved the locked room mystery, the time the culprit needed to freeze Kokoro’s body, and the alibi problem!” Mikado cheered.

Emma crossed her arms and spoke up,“Doesn’t the school rules say it’s a violation for one to lose their handbook? If the killer took Kokoro’s handbook, she’d be punished.”

“Yeah, but Kokoro didn’t lose her handbook, the killer stole it.” Hajime said.

“Mhm! And even so, the school rules seem to make exceptions for murders. In fact, there is more than one rule broken by the killer.”

  
  


_Another rule broken?_

_What could have been…_

_!_

_Wait… at the museum…_

  
  


“The vandalism rule, right?” I asked Kanade, “I remember seeing the Yuki Onna statue was broken at the museum. The fact that no one was punished for it means that it must have been necessary for the culprit’s murder plan somehow, right?”

“Yep! It’s all part of the culprit’s trick.”

“To add more emphasis to the curse of Yuki Onna, the culprit broke the statue to make it seem like it awoke.”

“I suppose you could say that’s one of the reasons, but the actual purpose was different. As you know, in this case the culprit needed a disguise! They can use makeup and clothes to make themselves look like Kokoro, but what about the hair?”

  
“Wait, they must have taken a wig from the dressing room inside the museum.”

“Well, there were lots of wigs in the dressing room, but I didn’t see one that looked anything like Kokoro’s hair.”

“Hey (Y/n), you remember that little costume party we had in the dressing room, and who did our hair?” Sora asked.

Oh boy do I.

“Oh god, not that embarrassing party again! By the way Emma, I looked up what a batsquatch monster is in the museum, and that is one of the WORST things I have ever seen! Not even close to cute! I just know I’ll be having nightma- wait…” I stopped myself from ranting once I came to a sudden realization, “It was Emma who styled our hair and did our makeup… but what does that wig have to do with the broken- nevermind, that was a stupid question, it’s because of the dressing room items list.”

“Oh yeah, I saw the list too. It has a list of all the items that are stocked inside the dressing room. It tells us which wigs and clothes are there, and how many.”

“Exactly, so if the killer had taken out a wig for their disguise, there would be one wig missing from the list. So the killer broke the statue for the wig so they could use it to fill up the inventory.”

“But why? No one would notice if a wig was missing.”

“Hiding the disguise was one of the most important parts of the culprit’s plan, so no matter how minor the thing was, they still may be concerned about it.” Sora said.

“And the fact that they did that, was definitely a smart move on their part,” I said, “Because Teruya memorized the list and checks it everyday, even though it’s super fricken weird.”

“Uh sorry… I don’t really remember, but I feel like I experienced something irreversible by making a mistake in taking inventory… it’s also a work habit too, I can’t stand not knowing the exact quantities of stock.”

“Even though Teruya checks it daily, we didn’t even notice the wig had disappeared. If the culprit did not replace the wig, Teruya definitely would have noticed the loss.” I stated.  
  


“Yeah, one of the wigs had little glass shards from the destroyed statue on it, so it all started from there… still, we wouldn’t have been able to think of a disguise if it wasn’t for Kanade’s help.” Sora said.

“Well, it seems the silhouette of the killer is being revealed!” Mikado said with the biggest smile on his mask.

I looked over at Emma, feeling sadness take over my heart.

**_She really did kill Kokoro, didn’t she?_ **

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason I made (Y/n) dress as a batsquatch monster was because when I was a little kid, I saw a picture of one in a book and It terrified the heck out of me so much I had nightmares about it. But I was still more terrified of the bowl of mush from Goodnight Moon (Don't ask).
> 
> Anyways, oh boy stuff is really happening huh.


End file.
